Fragile Friendship
by Smiling Eyes
Summary: Io was once Hera's best friend. Then a sad and fatale event drove an iron rod into the heart of their friendship. But can true friendship win over a dire mistake?
1. Two best friends

**Fragile Friendship**

_This is the story about the young goddess Io. She was once Hera's best friend, brought to Olympos by the queen of the gods herself. But a sad and fatale event drove an iron rod into the heart of their friendship. __Can Hera ever forgive Io and will Io ever feel comfortable around Hera again. Can true friendship win over a dire mistake?_

**1. Two best friends**

The young girls' high-pitched yelling and screaming were heard almost over the whole Palace of Zeus. Not only were the young goddesses voices strong, as divine voices usually are, they were arguing in the Grand Staircase Hall, where the acoustics sent voices bouncing off ornate marble walls and up through the wide, sunlit shaft.

"Now again!" Hestia stopped in her tracks, making a face. "They're going to break some glass pieces if they go on like this, I'm sure!" Then she turned around and begun walking back the way she had come.

Halfway there she met the goddess she was looking for:  
"Hera! Guess what?"  
"Yeah," the Queen of Olympos sighed. "I'm hearing them all right. I'll go talk to them. "

¤*¤*¤*¤

"Now listen," Hera said, sitting down with one young goddess on each side. The one to her left was Astraea, Her youngest daughter with Zeus. Astraea had inherited her dark hair and large, dark eyes but she had that very same smile as her father, the one that could make hearts melt. The other goddess was the fair haired Rhode, daughter of Aphrodite and Poseidon. The young girls were about the same age and best friends, at least most of the time. Now they both looked rather sulky and did everything to not have to look at the other one, using Hera as a kind of no-man's land that kept them safely apart.

"What, mother?" Astraea looked up, pushing back one dark lock from her pale forehead.  
"It's about friendship," Hera begun.  
"Mum!"  
"We don't need another lecture," Rhode said at almost the same time.

"This is not a lecture; this is a tale from real life. This is something that happened to me long ago. And if you chose to regard it as a lesson or just listen to it as a thrilling drama is all up to you. But once I had a best friend, and she and I were as tight as you two were. Her name was Io…"

¤*¤*¤*¤

"It ought to be a great party," Io smiled. "It is after all the birthday of the Sea God. And I'm all excited. I've never been to a party at Olympos before."  
"It sure is special," Hera replied, regarding herself in the full view mirror. The new Queen of the Gods was tall and slender without being skinny. Instead her body was fine tuned by work with weapon and martial arts. She had after all fought in the Titan wars and even if that was more than 100 years ago Hera was still keeping up her warrior's skills. Who knows when she might be needing them again?

"What's it like?" Io walked up so she came to stand next to Hera. She had the same kind of dark hair as Hera and she too wore it very long. But there the resemblances between the two friends ended. Io was about a head shorter than Hera, tanned and buxom, and her eyes were green and smiling where Hera's were solemn.

"There's never any expenses spared. And trust Poseidon to throw it all in. All kinds of sea food, singing naiads, dancing nereids "you name it. Poseidon and my Zeus have had… well there has always been some kind of competition going on between them. Sure, Zeus is the King and the Gods are closer than brothers, but - they have always tried to show off to the other one."

"How is he, Poseidon?" Io asked, her eyes glittering while she turned, trying to make her blue dress falling a bit better around her round hips.

"Before you get any ideas, darling," Hera warned, "Poseidon is the kind of man who's into one night stands. He has a girl and then he tires and dumps her before she knows it. I sure don't want anything like that to happen to you, Io."  
"Oh, I can take care of myself, Hera," Io stated and pulled the dress a few centimetres up. "You think I could wear my pearl necklace to this?" she changed subject.

"Of course!" Hera breathed out with relief. "Peals and blue go great together." Glad that Io seemed to have forgotten Poseidon as quick as he had struck her mind. Hera smiled while admiring her own red dress. It fitted her perfect! And of course it should, nothing less than perfection was good enough for the Queen. For the wife of Great Zeus.

Zeus who have given her this ruby necklace and fitting earrings. Zeus who have given her so much – both when it came to passion and friendship. As she threaded the golden earrings through the tiny holes in her earlobes her dark eyes lost themselves in revere. She saw the face of her beloved dancing in front of her. His golden locks, his sparkling electric blue eyes. His smile which could make iron lions curl up and purr. Her Zeus…

"… wanted to get laid so the bitch didn't bother with that Atarion was married, and to her best friend too!" Io finished something Hera hadn't heard the start of.  
"Sorry?" The queen turned to look at her friends still with hands at her neck, arranging the jewelry.  
"Are you with me or not?" Io wondered. "Wasn't that a filthy thing to do?"  
"Sorry my mind was wandering, who did what? "

"Imsone. She slept with Atarion. Semora's wife."  
"But that was just a play," Hera recollected. "I saw it too, but I can't think of anything like that happening for real. Well perhaps among the mortals, but I guess we know better. "  
"You think so? Well, Hera, we're not that different from the mortals. And I can think of some of us who…"

"But we are different. We might be of the same origin as them but while they die before even reaching a century we go on living. Living and learning. Understanding ourselves better as well as the people around us. And faulty mistakes that might be made in our youths get remembered and hopefully not repeated. Acquired wisdom…"

"…is what make us Gods, not superhuman traits and eternal youth," Io finished the sentence. "You do sound a bit like your husband from time to time, Hera. "  
"And how odd is that really?" Hera replied. She finally appeared pleased with the necklace and went on with some minor corrections to her seemingly perfect make-up. "We are married, and we do talk a lot. And we share the most basic ideas about how the world works and how it may be tweaked to work better. That's why I really think this is going to work in spite of the prognosis based upon Zeus' earlier marriages. "

"He cheated on them, right?" Io said and borrowed some of Hera's Aegyptian kohl.  
"He did," Hera nodded. "First Metis, I guess he was in fact led astray by the much older and more skilled Themis. She who became goddess of justice – what an irony! And when his first wife learned about the affair she left, taking the couple's infant daughter Athena with her. Then Zeus married Themis instead, but the wedding bed had hardly turned cold before Zeus was rumored to have spent some time with Eurynome. Now, I don't really know if that's true or not, but Hestia told…"

"Hestia's even better at gossip than starting fires so I wouldn't…"  
"No smoke without fire, no pun intended. Eurynome had a child and although it has never been made official I can tell by young Dike's aura that it is Zeus who have fathered her. But Zeus and Eurynome never became a couple for real, and same thing goes for his short relation with Mnemosyne. Leto on the other hand, now that was another story and if she hadn't chickened out and left Olympos I would never had encountered Zeus in the situation I did and it would never have been us. I guess I might've become his new chancellor or something instead. After all he did need a new chancellor after dismissing Prometheus, and I was applying for the job."

"Sooner or later it would have been you," Io said. "You two were destined for each other. And I loved the way he flirted you down on that spring day after finding you in the woods with the injured cuckoo in your hands."  
"True," Hera nodded, blushing slightly. "He did it so subtle and refined that I thought I was the one doing it to him for a while instead. He knew exactly which buttons to push, which emotions to appeal to. Zeus knew I was lonely and had been for quite a while and he knew I had hard to confess even to myself that I needed somebody next to me. That even the strong and independent Hera yearned for someone to hold her in the dark of the nights."

"I wish…" Now it became Io's turn to lose herself in revere. "I wish I could find someone for me like that too. Someone who understands what I need and acts upon that. "  
"Oh he's out there, I'm quite sure of it, Io. Perhaps already tonight you'll come across somebody. After all most of the gods are going to be there. Speaking of what – I guess we're need to get going. Even if Zeus' entourage is not supposed to be early arrivers, we don't want to be too late either. And the party has been in full swing now for quite a while."

"Okay, well I'm almost ready." Io did one last check in the full body mirror before she and Hera left the spacious Queenly suite and went down to the downstairs lounge where Zeus was already waiting with a handful other gods and goddesses, including Zeus sister Hestia and the brethren trio Kotos, Cyges and Briareus, each of them a handsome-looking blonde with gaudy green eyes and a flashy set of white teeth. A bit hard to tell apart, Io had to admit, but she had learned the trick, at least when seeing them all together. Cyges were slightly taller than the rest and Kotos was more stoat. Briareus on the other hand a bit darker slightly wavy hair and wore it longer.

For any other man or god the brothers would have worked as bodyguards, but Zeus's powers were of the quality that made bodyguards unnecessary. Now the trio worked more as an escort of honor as well as forming ephemeral couplings with the ladies following Zeus. So while Hera took Zeus' arm Io found herself by the arm of Kotos and trailing right behind Hestia and Briareus who was following the royal couple. Behind them Cyges and Nike took up the rear.

Poseidon's magnificent villa was not far from the palace of Zeus, and the evening was balmy and mellow with the last strikes of sunset setting some featherlike ribbons of clouds afire. Early stars had begun to shine, like unreachable diamonds against soft blue velvet. It was a nice enough night for a walk, still Zeus had had snow white horses reined to elegant chariots and while he and Hera entered the first one together with Hestia and Briareus, Io, Kotos, Cyges and Nike rode the second chariot.

He was accurate with every detail, king Zeus. Even if he knew that the chariots saved them no time (flying wound have taken them to Poseidon's even faster) he had wanted the horses and chariots so he could make an impression on those guests possibly lingering outside the entrance to the sea-god's Olympic home.

Zeus had it planned right, a motley crew of lower gods and goddesses were still milling about outside, Io recognized some faces here and there. It embarrassed her a bit coming with the entourage of Zeus when she only a year ago had been no nobler than those four or five dozen who were now gaping in awe over seeing Zeus and his associates arrive. Still her friendship with Hera had granted her this boon and Io gladly took the offered hand of Kotos again to follow the others inside.

Not unexpected it was Poseidon himself who greeted the new arrivals. A bear hug for his old friend Zeus and gallant hand-kisses for the ladies before he went on with the brother trio. Io savoured the closer look she had got of Poseidon. Zeus' old brother in arms were just as handsome, just as well built, but he was a bit darker in complexion, his shoulder-length hair so black it appeared blue in certain lights and wavy like it was a part of the oceans itself. The sea god also had emerald green eyes, slightly angular like there was a trace of eastern blood in him and rather thin lips that looked accustomed to smiling. And the way he had said her name was thrilling, it had an exotic ring to it and made her feel more noble, more elegant than she really was. Io – on the lips of Poseidon it had sounded like a deep bell ringing.

Next thing they were admitted into the main hall where even more people were mingling about. The hall was spacious with coral coloured marble pillars holding up a ceiling with mosaique pictures of mermaids and fishes and a large chandelier provided the room with adequate yet soft light. Tables with a generous buffet were set in the middle of the large room and beyond them one gallery of pillars opened up to a rose garden dominated by a large koi pond and with the artificial lake as a backdrop, almost ink-dark now in the fading dusk. Some guests were mingling in the garden as well, and lanterns with coloured divine light were hung all over the place.

In one corner a quartet of nymphs were performing soft background music on lyres and pipes and in front of them a golden-locked little boy about four or five was standing awestruck. Io recognized him; this was Apollo, Zeus' young son. This must mean his mother Leto was not far away from here.

Io turned to Hera to let her know the fact, but Hera was engaged in a discussion with Demeter a bit away and Zeus was even further yonder, talking to some ladies Io didn't know. So she set about to the musical nymphs, hoping to spot Leto herself.  
"At least one person I know," she thought. Suddenly she felt so lost here among all those haughty Olympians in their fancy dresses and the large quantity of hang around deities who have been drawn from afar to this alluring place like night butterflies to a lantern.

Nevertheless, Hera and Io went way back and Hera had invited her here to discuss possible job opportunities within the royal court. The prospect of living at Olympos was appealing to a goddess used to residing in minor woods together with nature deities. Not that she minded the company of dryads and naiads, but they were seldom the brightest beings and sometimes she felt bored by their idle conversations about nothing other than 'beautiful butterflies' and 'mortal hunters with nice back sides'.

So when Hera's invitation had come Io had gladly packed what she thought might be needed and headed along to the mountain of Zeus. And here she was now on one of their famous parties, trying to look like she was enjoying herself.


	2. Music and dance

**Music and dance **

Io felt a bit better though when she ran into Leto, who was just as expected, not that far from Apollo.  
" He loves the music you know", the tall, slender goddess told. She was wearing green as usual, a colour matching her olive skin, jade eyes and curly jacaranda hair. "I usually have to tear him away from sets like this one, and it saddens me so much. It's really beyond bed time for the twins now but I promised them they could stay at least until their father arrived. Faith knows that Zeus seldom have time for his young. I don't blame him, he has a tough, demanding job and I hold all the respect in how he's doing it. Still, the twins have all the right in the world to get to know their father as well."

" Where is – Artemis?" Io asked, blushing a bit at not being able to remember the girls name in an instant.  
" Oh, she's around here somewhere…" Leto indicated with a swing of her head that she was not sure where. "While Apollo usually stays put where the band is his sister can run off to whatever she finds exciting. Maybe she has found her dad. I better go have a look. Would you mind keeping an eye on Apollo, Io, I guess he's not going to make any trouble. "

¤*¤*¤*¤

Leto had been wrong on that account, While she went looking for her daughter the band had taken a short break and meanwhile Apollo had sneaked up on the platform to check out one of the instruments, a large lyre. The little boy touched first a few of the strings, conjuring up beautiful sounds. Then he tried to lift the lyre, but it was too heavy for his little arms. And with a resounding crash the device slid to the floor. Little Apollo jumped back, tears forming in dark blue eyes. At the same time one of the music nymphs came running, worried and angered at the 'ignorant child' who had dared to touch her instrument.

Io was there first though, placing herself between Apollo and the raging redheaded musician.  
" Is he your custodian?" the nymph snarled, twisting her otherwise comely face.  
" He's the son of a friend of mine and I'm sure he meant no harm, he was just curious. Isn't that so?" Io turned over her shoulder, but Apollo had run off, disappeared in the crowd.  
" Well if he has in any way damaged the lyre you will have to replace what it costs to fix it or get me another one. These things are our work tools, they are expensive ones and not toys for brats who really should be in bed by now. You can tell that to his mother or father or whoever is neglecting him. "

Io felt that such was something she could not tell the great Zeus but she only sighed when the nymph went to pick up her instrument.  
"Look it has got a dent in its frame. Now the sound will be lessened and the rest of tonight's performance in jeopardy. I suggest…"

Next thing a commotion took place as the throng of gods and goddesses parted letting through no other than Zeus himself carrying his son on one arm.  
" Now did I hear there is a problem with a jagged lyre?" the king asked, his dark voice almost booming in the large hall. (Wherever Zeus was you often heard it, Io thought). The nymph looked up, and suddenly all anger was gone, a trace of fear shifting over her face as she recognized the boy on Zeus' arm and understood the relation between Apollo and Zeus.

" I…" she started. "Your son wanted to see it and I guess he wasn't as careful as…"  
" He's only four; you should not let such valuable pieces lie unguarded when you go off to the ladies room or wherever you went. Apollo meant no harm; he was just curious and interested. An interest that should be encouraged instead. Now, let me see the instrument!"

Reluctantly the nymph handed the lyre over to Zeus who took it in his free right hand. He turned it over and looked at it for a while, seemingly unbothered by its weight. Then he returned it.  
" The dent is gone now; you can resume your performance. And next time, be more careful. "

Then he turned to his son:  
" That goes for you too, Sunshine. If you want to look at an instrument like that, better ask its owner when she or he returns. I'm certain they'll let you see, feel, touch and hear it if you ask nicely. Now let this be a lesson for you to be more careful with other people's belongings in the future. "  
" Sorry dad, I didn't mean to topple it," Apollo said and hid his face at his father's shoulder. Zeus patted him lightly at the head and then he turned to Io:  
" Thanks for helping my son," the king said. "He's just a child and like all children more curious than careful. "  
" I know", Io smiled. "Wasn't really a problem."

Behind them the nymphs took up their music again, a beautiful tune in tranquil minor. Io glanced at Zeus and the son he was carrying.  
" Where did Leto go?" she asked conversationally.  
" Oh she went to get Artemis who fell into the koi pond. The little rascalette!" Zeus was fighting a losing game against his own laughter it seemed.  
" Artemis or Leto?" Io joked.  
" Both, to be true." Zeus smiled. Then he went on: "I really ought to make sure this little gentleman is put to bed too. See you around, Io. "

¤*¤*¤*¤

A while later Io found Hera sitting down with some other deities and the queen nodded for Io to come over.  
" How do you like it, your first Olympic party? Any interesting prospects coming your way?"  
" Oh well, I keep running into talkative river gods mostly. And then some guy called Prometheus. Said he had been in the war with you and Zeus and that he was Zeus' chancellor for a while but that he had quit because he and the king disagreed on most things. Kind of a gentleman but a bit self centered. "

" Oh, you'll soon find them all to be, the gods," a petite redheaded goddess next to Hera piped up. She was clinging to her drink and appeared a bit on the tipsy side.  
" Oh but you can't say that about everyone because you had some bad luck, Dione. You just have to keep on looking," the dark-skinned goddess on the other side of Hera said.  
" Oh, easy for you to say, Nyx, who already have gotten hold one a bloke," Dione replied.  
" Whom I might not keep for much longer. Erebus is terrible, he just keeps on grunting when you try to speak to him. I mean really; doesn't the man have anything to _say_?"

Io couldn't help thinking the other goddesses sounded quite a bit like wood nymphs. Where these the most intelligent, the most powerful beings on Earth? she pondered. Then she guessed she was disappointed. While Hera's friend kept on talking about this god or that goddess, Io let her eyes wander, checking out the gods. Unwilling to admit it even to herself she was actually looking for the host of the night – Poseidon. But then she had actually only seen him twice. First when he greeted the Zeus group in his outer hall and later when he held his welcome speech about an hour ago, just after the incident with Apollo and the lyre.

She really felt like sharing that story with someone, Hera perhaps. But she didn't know the goddess' friends and she had no idea of what they would make of it. So she kept quiet and soon Nyx left to dance with a blue haired fellow Io faintly remembered being called Oceanos. Dione excused herself and went for the ladies room, and with her went the tall, noble lady who had presented herself as Eurynome. That left Io finally alone with Hera.

" You don't look like you're enjoying yourself," Hera said.  
" Well – I'm not sure. I don't dance and I feel a bit 'out of protocol' here, not really knowing how to behave. "  
" Just be yourself, Io!" Hera encouraged. "That works well most of the times. And do reconsider about dancing, that's a great way to meet new people of the opposite sex."  
" I just wish…" Io started and then she finished the sentence hanging in air.

" What?" Hera wanted to know.  
" Oh nothing really." Then, to revive the conversation mostly, she told her friend about the event with Apollo earlier in the evening.  
" Oh the little lad!" Hera smiled. "He's so fascinated with music, and really a sweetheart if you just break that shy barrier of his. It's easier with the girl. Artemis is cool with strangers most of the time, and even a bit too outspoken and sincere, which might get her in trouble when she gets older. "

" She'll need a rub"off, you mean?" Io asked Hera.  
" Well it has to be performed with care, she's an intelligent and sensitive being beneath that rough surface. Raising children is a hard art that takes more than one clever mind, because each and every one of them are individuals and should be treated with respect and understanding. And at the same time made to comprehend that the world is seldom there to serve them all on a silver platter. Which might be hard to understand if you're a child of Zeus for instance. "  
" He spoils the kids?"  
" That's what Leto fears at least. I don't have that much experience with children yet. But I guess it's only a matter of time, Zeus and I have decided to start having them when the new palace wing is ready. It will be large enough for a dozen of children, Apollo and Artemis included. And Athena should she happen to come visiting."

" Who?"  
" Zeus' oldest daughter. Didn't I mentioning her earlier? She lives with her mother in Tritonis, not far from Atlas' place. "  
" Yes, I remember now. Themis'... no, Metis' child. I always confuse these two!"  
" You're not the only one. Besides, Athena's hardly a child anymore, what can she be – in her early twenties? And while I haven't seen Metis in ages, Themis is still visiting Olympos now and then. I even think she's here tonight even if I have yet to spot her."

Hera get something distant, glanced to her looks like she was fearing that her precursor could still be able to wake an interest in Zeus, and thus turn into a threat against Hera. As if Hera had thought it out aloud Io laid a hand on Hera's white arm:  
" I don't think you have to worry about any of these ladies. After all they left Zeus for a reason, and I don't think they have changed their minds about that now. "  
" The reason was betrayal," Hera sighed. "And sometimes I fear that for myself too. But then I shrug it off. Zeus wouldn't have gone through such a hassle convincing me he was the right for me if he planned to betray me. He ought to have learned from these mistakes by now. After all he has learned from his mistakes in other parts of his life."

Hera was interrupted by Nyx returning, with some gods in tow, one of them asking Hera up for a dance. When Hera accepted the gallantly offered hand she nodded to Io:  
" Remember what I said about dancing. It can be fun and it can be serious, it's entirely up to you. "

So Io accepted the dance with the god with fudge brown eyes. He was as well carried as Hera's dance partner and he introduced himself as Krios. The man swirling around with Hera was Hyperion, father to Selene. Io had met him and his lovely wife Theia briefly earlier. The solemn nymph quartet had been traded in for some satyrs performing more up-tempo music with pipes and drums and Io realized it was actually fun to spin along in the arms of various gods. And later in the evening she got to see someone she'd never thought she'd lay her eyes on.

Io had just thanked Proteus for a dance, when suddenly a buzz reverberated through the assembly:  
" Is it?"  
" Can it really be?"  
" He doesn't really look that fearsome. "  
" Why is he here? "  
" To pay his respect to an old brother in arms. He too fought by the side of Zeus."

Io turned and caught sight of the deity coming through the door. And he sure was something to look at. Tall and narrow-shouldered and dressed in all black leather beneath a likewise black cloak with red lining. His tar black hair was tied back from a pale face with deep-set eyes with an odd-coloured sheen, hawky nose and thin lips that didn't betray any kind of emotion. And with an aura of darkness and other-worldliness surrounded him which made it clear who he was. Hades – the main god of the underworld, ruling the yonder dimension just like Zeus ruled the Earthly realm.


	3. Zeus in the late of night

**Zeus in the late of night**

Hours later Io was sitting by the koi pond resting her tired feet while late partygoers were starting to leave around her.  
" Anyone feels like continuing to my place for a night cap", someone suggested behind Io.  
" Count me in", she heard Nyx reply. "Although I'll bet my ass my sister Hemera will be all rise and shine tomorrow – not being able to get it through her mind that I too need my beauty sleep even if I don't like bedding at sunset. "

Io glanced over to the handful of gods and goddesses who were standing in the light of a lantern with blue divine light, strange hues colouring their faces.  
" You want to come too?" the god asked when he caught Io's looks. She recognized him as Iapetos, a lean man with dark blond hair in a ponytail and a green tunic with gold leaves on the rims.  
" Thanks but no thanks, I'm a bit tired. I'll be going home; I just think I'll wait for Hera so I'll get some company."

" Oh Hera," Nyx said. "Sorry to say she left an hour ago. She had to help poor Dione home, and she never returned although she said she was. The latter was so drunk she couldn't stand, so I guess Hera had to give her more than one hand. Now that imbecile Ephimeteus, if I get my hands on him…"

Io stopped listening and instead she decided to fly home to Zeus' palace herself. She didn't really feel like going on her own – on the other hand this was Olympos, what could happen here?

¤*¤*¤*¤

Io had but landed at the tiled ground outside the palace of Zeus when she felt a presence behind her, a large shadow blocking out the moonlight for a while. She turned:  
" Zeus?"  
" Hello dearest one! So you ended up getting home on your own. I'd reckon you'd get yourself a friend for the night."  
" I'm not really interested in one night stands," she shrugged.  
" Oh really? Io, those can be great. Just some fun with no obligations and after a few hours you part as friends like nothing ever happened."  
" Can it really be that easy?"  
"Sure it can, if both parts agree upon it. "

Zeus suddenly came to stand a bit too close to Io, invading her private sphere and almost without thinking Io took a slight step back. But Zeus laid a large hand upon her tanned arm, sort of cornering her mentally.  
" I…" Io started, feeling the words slipping away from her as on slick ice. Zeus smiled.  
" Hush", the god laid a finger on Io's soft lips, "no one will know." At the same time his other arm had slid behind Io's back, caressing her gently. Next thing he bowed down, removed his finger and gently took her chin instead and then he was kissing Io. It was a kiss of the kind Io had never encountered before. A kiss of the kind she only thought existed in the romantic tales the dryads told at moonlit summer nights when the mists were wisping over the grassed hills and night birds were calling in the distance.

" Zeus..." Io disengaged from the god's eager explorations of her oral cavity.  
" What? You like it, don't you?"  
" I… but you're off limits!"  
" Why is that?" Zeus was smiling.  
" Hera…"  
" Hera's staying with her drunk friend tonight. She will never know. Unless you're going to tell her of course. "  
" You mean…"  
" Yes I do!"

Next thing Zeus was back to his kisses. Kisses that made Io's head spin, making it impossible for her to resist even if she really should have. Instead she found herself kissing him back, tasted his flavours of honey and cinnamon, felt the warmth of his arms around her, his hands starting to travel up her spine, large, dry and warm, exploring her. Io couldn't help moaning with pleasure when Zeus' kisses left her lips and let his lips and tounge travell down her cheek and neck, tickling her in the valley where the collarbones met.

Then Zeus seemed to tip them slightly sideward and Io felt reality somehow flicker around them. The next moment she fell down on something soft. A bed? Her own bed, she realized in the back of her mind. But her whole body, her whole soul was preoccupied with the fact that Zeus had started to undress her. That his lips and tongue was now playing around her hardening nipples that he was nibbling on them slightly, creating an odd feeling of bliss. That he was now as naked as her, his hard, fit body more felt than seen in the sparse moon light seeping in through the semi"transparent curtains to Io's left.

Zeus's heavy form leaned over her as he continued to taste and to feel his way down her ribs and then further on… A quick stop to dip his tongue in her navel before moving on, further down, further down.

Moaning with pleasure Io opened up her legs to Zeus' explorations. She was already wet and ready for him. More than wet and ready to be true. He could have her any moment. All doubts, all thoughts about Hera were gone. But Zeus was far from eager, he teased her quite a bit more, used his fingers down there, more skilled than any musician could ever tease a lyre. He made her head spin and he made her plead to him to take her! And finally, when Io thought she was going to crack up with lust Zeus entered her cavity. And he was large. Truly large! Truly fulfilling…

" Zeus, Zeus, Zeus!" Io was calling out, clutching his blond locks while catching up with his rhythm. "Zeus, Zeus, Zeus," no man had ever been so glorious… So intense! So completely satisfying!

¤*¤*¤*¤

Hera woke up in an uncomfortable position. She had fallen asleep last night on the bed room sofa of Dione. Her friend was still snoring in her bed, one pillow on the floor and the other crammed against the back of the bed while Dione looked like she too was going to fall out of her bed, mouth agape and one leg almost touching the floor, the bedspread hardly covering her most modest parts.

Swearing to herself Hera rose and blinked to get the sands of sleep out of her eyes. She had had strange, discomforting dreams about Zeus with other women, but she guessed that was only to be expected after having to listen to Dione's litanies over the behaviour of her former lover Epimetheus the evening before. She moved Dione so the girl came to rest a bit more comfortable in bed, covering her with the spread.  
" Pimethfuckingidiotsonovfabitchcallinghimselfgod…" Dione mumbled, moaned and went back to snoring. And Hera put on a dressing gown she found lying beneath a make-up table next to the sofa, not bothering with the fact that it wasn't exactly clean but smelt of wine and perfume. Then she went in search for Ambrosia, she bet both of them were going to need it after this night.

Faith, Zeus was probably pissed with her now because being walked out on at the party, but what was she going to do? She couldn't just leave a friend in distress like that. She had to get Dione home less the sad goddess might've gone off and done something stupid. Why was it always Hera who had to take care of all the goddesses, helping them home like this, listening to their problems, being a mother to them… It was a bit tiring to be true, she admitted.

In the pantry down in the kitchen Hera found what she was looking for, one of those magic ice boxes made for containing the special drug that could do anything from curing hangovers and depressions to help you travel trough countless of dimensions without losing your way. The box was locked but Hera's magic hacked the lock and soon she selected two of the little fruity forms and placed them on a plate. The heavy aroma of the drug was almost enough to pick her up and she returned with the Ambrosia and a large cup of water to Dione's bed chamber.

The girl was still asleep but the fact that the morning was long gone and it was nearing noon made Hera decide to wake her friend up. She placed the Ambrosia on the bedside table and pushed Dione first gently and then a bit harder. Dione's cerulean eyes fluttered up and she stared at Hera with incomprehension beneath pale lashes.  
" Good morning, sweetie. Or perhaps I should say good day."  
" Hera?"  
" The very one. I got you some Ambrosia. "

" Was I very drunk?" Dione asked after splashing cold water in her face.  
" Yeah, quite," Hera nodded.  
" Did I make a fool of myself?"  
" No not really," her friend assured.  
" Faith! I can't believe… But I guess I was sad and upset after what took place between me and that bastard Epimetheus. I'm glad you took me home, Hera, and I'm sorry you had to sleep on the sofa…"

" No worries. I was actually planning to return to the party or perhaps going back home, but sleep overcame me."  
" Guess that's what happens when people have to listen to my drunken bladder. I'm so really sorry..."  
" Oh, don't be!" Hera repeated herself. "That's what friends are for after all. And there will be other parties, a lot of them. Next one coming up as early as the day after tomorrow, housewarming at Coios'. Not as fancy as Poseidon's that's true but yet another chance to have a good time. But, darling, now I better go home before Zeus starts to suspect I fell off the mountain or something."  
" You're lucky to have him," Dione stated and pulled a short peplo over her head, fastening it on the shoulders with mother-of-pearl clips. "He's such a great man. "  
" Guess I am," Hera smiled. Just the thought of her husband made her heart warm.

¤*¤*¤*¤

The umami taste of the Ambrosia was still lingering on her lips when Hera entered trough the large double doors to her and Zeus' home, crossing the well known inner hall with its fountain and its marble statues holding up chandeliers where divine light used to burn in the nights.  
" Zeus!" she called out. First with her voice and then with her mind. "Honey I'm home. I'm sorry I didn't…."  
_No prob, we're in the courtyard having pancakes for lunch_, her husband called back in her mind. We? Yes, Io of course, Zeus had taken the host's responsibility towards Io too, the sweetheart. Chaos, another friend Hera had neglected at that party. Well, both Zeus and Io could take care of themselves, she shrugged.

Io looked up and blushed a bit when Hera entered the courtyard. Zeus and she were sitting by a little table in the shadow of a large elm where two nymphs were serving them pancakes with cloudberry jam, and freshly pressed juice.  
" Had a wild night, sweetie?" Zeus smiled when Hera plucked a third chair out of the ultra dimension and sat down. Reading her intent one of the nymphs started to set the table for Hera too.

" I sat with poor Dione, she was so drunk that she was beside herself. "  
" And you were putting others before yourself as usual, beloved!" Zeus leaned over and met Hera in a quick kiss. Io looked down at her food, doing all she could to prevent her cheeks from blushing and her aura to betray her. But Hera paid her little attention, she was telling about Dione's sad faith. And exactly where on his body she wanted to kick Ephimetheus next time she laid her eyes upon him.  
" And you guys, how was your night?" she finished.  
" Oh I just went home and to bed," Zeus shrugged, his handsome face betraying nothing.  
" So did I", Io whispered, fumbling with her cup of warm herb tea. "I was offered to go home with Iapetos to continue the night there. Nyx and some others went but I was too tired."

" Oh these dudes, they can go on the whole night," Hera giggled. "Bet Nyx is going to stay in bed till sunset today. "

¤*¤*¤*¤

Later Io breathed with relief, Hera hadn't suspected a thing. She had passed the test.

And the memory of Zeus still made her cavity contract, still made her heart beat a bit harder and her breath deeper. Faith, Hera was one lucky girl!


	4. Oups!

**Oups!**

_Thanks to PowerofWords12, 101warriorsrox and Harajuku Girl for your encouraging words!_

* * *

It was two months later and Io had started to work in the office of Hera. She had become employed in the Nature Gods Relations Department under a god called Argus Panoptes. Argus was quite bossy and he had eyes everywhere so there was no slacking in his department. On the other hand he was pretty nice and had a funny side, which he could pick up now and then, especially at the after work outings, and Io decided that she liked her new boss.

Life was going fairly well even if it was quite a lot of new things to learn everyday and she was crashing in bed every night. She had been given her own house in the little 'Olympic Village' where most of the 'divine civil servants' lived. It wasn't large and fancy like Zeus and Hera's home, far from it, but it was cozy and neat and with a pretty little garden with enough room for Io to cultivate some herbs and fruits she fancied.

Io had made new friends, among them the sweet Dione and the party babe Nyx and her lovely sister Hemera. The latter was a complete opposite of her sister. Where the dark and mysterious Nyx was working with chaos magic and wanted to party all night long, Hemera was a morning person who was almost always first in at work, doing weather job and loved gardening even more than Io did. And she seldom stayed up late, her eyes was usually blinking when dark set in.

But it was still Hera Io associated most with. The two friends used to spend the late of the afternoon sitting in the sun at Hera's patio, talking about mundane things and sometimes using a scrying mirror spying at what was going on in other parts of Olympos and the world. The discomfort Io had felt around the other goddess the first days were all but gone now, she was certain Hera would never know what had happened that night after Poseidon's party. Hera was actually trying to match Io and Poseidon although Dione was certain it would not work.  
" What Poseidon need is another amphibian, and there are none at Olympos at this moment since Doris left to marry Nereus."

" You think so?" Hera raised her brows at the redheaded goddess who was reclining in a lounge chair, zipping on some nectar and looking like there were no cares in the world at all.  
" I'm quite sure", Dione smiled. "And trust me, I know these things. I am after all a goddess of love and match-making."  
" That might become a problem then," Io pondered, "since there aren't that many divine amphibians around anymore."  
" There will be - In the future," Hera guessed. "Our dear Posy just has to stay patient then. "  
" Although he won't," Dione returned.  
" Why not?" Io wondered.  
" Because he's of the sleeping around kind. I bet he'll knock quite a few goddesses and nymphs up before he settles down", Dione went on.

Io swallowed, and to prevent the subject to stray into Zeus's well known history as a 'sleeping around kind' she changed it and started to talk about what to wear at Demeter's upcoming birthday party instead.

And Zeus – he stayed true to his promise and treated her just like another friend, no different than before their encounter. He talked to her when she visited Hera, wanted to know if she liked it at Olympos and would now and then invite her to stay for dinner. And sometimes she took him up on the offer, when she felt like talking a bit more with the royal couple. It was like that night had never happened, like it was an oddity, a fluke and now just something in the past. Something that would never happen again. Which Io so dearly hoped – for the sake of all three of them – that it never would.

But Io had learned that when something was starting to feel too good to be true it usually was. She was starting to feel strange in the mornings, like her inner organs were heaving and she had an odd feeling of not being alone when she went to bed at night. Not that she was being stared at but more like someone was – being with her. Like there was somebody or something else in that soft, spacious bed. Like the darkness held more than her own soul. Still it didn't scare her – far from it, she felt completely safe in the vicinity of that presence, like she was actually the one – protecting it. At those moments she could almost feel the scent of honey and cinnamon again in the air – Zeus?

" Io have you put on weight?" Teiren, sitting next to her in the office landscape, asked. Teiren was just a naiad and not the brightest torch in the hall even compared to her own kind. Yet it was easy to see that Io's belly had become rounder, that her peploses were straining tighter around the hips. Too much good Olympian food probably. And if you didn't know how to keep the calories at bay, if you let the mind slip… She had to ask someone about it.

" Oh, you're not fat," Demeter mused. "You're pregnant, sister!"  
" I'm what?"  
" You heard me!"  
" But there has been none…"  
" Are you sure?" There was something mocking in Demeter's soft soprano and Io felt her cheeks blush. Could she tell… No, she didn't know Demeter that well.

Damn it, Zeus! What was she going to do now? The only option she felt she had was getting as far from Olympos as possible and birth her child in secrecy and then either stay there or give it up for adoption. Sure there must be other gods somewhere ready to receive an unwanted child. Unwanted on the other hand, Io felt her eyes tear when she walked through the vibrantly beautiful garden of Demeter. All kinds of flowers grew here, some in outlandish colourings, their perfume filling the air. Birds were chirping from the branches of the exotic trees and bees and butterflies were flying and fluttering around collecting nectar. Everything was so lovely. And Io was so sad.

A child should be loved! Every child in the world had the right to be received by a loving mother and father who took care of them and brought them up in safety and care and raised them into mature and responsible individuals. And even if Zeus wasn't there for Io's child, even if he probably never would, Io knew that she had to. She couldn't walk out of her little one. She knew she just couldn't, she was simply not that kind of woman!

This decision made Io realize that she could not stay on Olympos anymore. Not when birthing Zeus' child and thus risk to attract Hera's anger. Because while Hera was a wonderful friend, she could be really mad at those who failed to live up to what she expected them to. And Hera's rage was nothing you wanted to be on the receiving end off. Io had seen examples of that earlier. Io was certain that if she stayed on Olympos Hera would eventually find out who was the father of Io's child. After all Io was no Leto who had been lucky enough to squeeze in a short fling with Zeus between his marriages with Themis and Hera.

Then with what options were she left? She could always return to the Dryad Hill outside Argos where she used to live before she came to Olympos. Or she could go to her parents Inakhos and Argia and ask to stay there for a while. Although they would make her feel like a babe again and that was definitely not what she needed when she was expecting herself.

The only thing certain was that the royal couple should never have to hear about this little baby. Zeus' and her mishap had to remain a secret between the two of them. Any other option was impossible, Io sure didn't want to damage her friend's marriage either. She knew how much Hera loved Zeus. She remembered how Hera had taken her hands and said:  
" Io what we have is true love, no, it's more than true love. It's a twin soul ship that goes beyond everything else. I'm really lucky to have received this treasure. "

More than once had she said that. And more than once had she assured to Io that there was someone out there for her too.  
" Just keep on looking," Hera had urged. Perhaps he's not here at Olympos, perhaps he's somewhere else in the world.  
" But there are so few gods to choose from…"  
" And so much time, Io. All the time in the world. Let it take a century, let it take two! And one day he will be there. Meanwhile, do have some fun with the gods that do cross your path of life!"

How should she tell that it was exactly what she had done. With Zeus. Hera's Zeus!

¤*¤*¤*¤

" What do you mean, you want to quit?" Argus rose a brow, rising up his chair and taking down the booted feet he had kept propped up on the desk until Io split the news. "You're doing great, you're over the first beginners' errors and you have showed that you are clever, loyal and hard working. We love to have you here, Io."

" It's not that," Io replied. "In fact I really love my work here. I love this place and all the people here. But there's… Personal reasons."  
" What kind of? Something I can help you with?"

" Thanks for your concern, Argus, but… No. I better deal with this on my own."  
" Don't tell me that bastard Astraios has offered you a job in Zeus' office?"  
" No, it's not a job thing. Not at all. In fact I'm not staying at Olympos."  
" Now I don't really understand."  
" As I say, it's personal, and I don't want to talk about it."  
" Well you should at least know that you'll always be welcome here should you change your mind! "

" Thank you, Argus!" She took the dark skinned man's hand in a firm grip of farewell and feeling oddly melancholic she exited his office. Argos was right, she belonged here, and she sure didn't want to leave! But what was there to do?

¤*¤*¤*¤

Hera was of the same surprised kind when Io came to say goodbye.  
" I handed over the house to Ananke, she'll dole it out to the next newbie. I hope that one is going to like it as much as I did. "  
" But Io, you're sure about this?"

Io nodded. She could tell even less to Hera, and she felt the tears sting her eyes when Hera suddenly said:  
" Who was he?"  
" Who?"  
" You know what I mean. The father of the babe. It's because of him you're leaving, right."

" What are you talking about?"  
" Io, Io, I'm a mother goddess originally. Or at least a family goddess. That was something I was supposed to have been doing, hadn't the Titan war came along. Now my daughter Eleithya had to take over that responsibility while I was a warrior and then a royal executive to finally become queen. So don't even pretend for a second that you're surprised that I know. In fact I have known a long time, I have just wondered when you were going to tell. But I understand your hesitation if the father is… not really fit to be a father to put it politely. "  
" Eh, well…"

Unbothered by Io's staggering interruption Hera went on:  
" But being pregnant shouldn't mean that you have to leave you work and even less Olympos. There are several nymphs that can be hired as nannies and there is a program for maternal leave within the royal office. "

" It's not about that. You're right, it's about the father. More I cannot say. Please don't push the subject, my friend."

" It hurt's right?" Hera asked. And now Io's tears came. Her friend was so head on spot and that made it impossible to keep the façade up. Sure it hurt, but that was nothing compared to if Hera found out.


	5. The wanderings of Io

**The wanderings of Io**

It was raining hard the morning when Epaphus was born. The ground was still warm so the rain became mist that snaked itself upwards between the treetrunks, giving the surroundings a surreal and almost spooky feel. It smelt of damp earth and wet leaves. The rising sun was hidden by a thick layer of indigo clouds and rumbling thunders could be heard in the distance. Afterwards Io had liked to think that it was Zeus saluting his little son, although he definitely did not know that the boy existed. After leaving Olympos more than six months ago Io had been avoiding the king of the gods and his wife by all means. She was so afraid that she would say something, do something that would reveal her secret. Something that would prove to the Olympic royal couple who was the father of her child.

Her first stop on what proved to be a long and demanding journey had been her old home among the dryads. But these simple beings had been so overly curious and they had been pampering her and given her all kind of unwanted advices that in the end Io felt like she would throw up "and not solely because of morning sickness. So after about a month she was on the road again, remembering an old, divine friend named Akone who had once told that her doors would always been open for Io. Akone lived outside Argos so that became the next stop for the pregnant goddess.

But since then Akone had married the fisherman god Terenras, and there was not a grain of chemistry between him and Io. Perhaps Io had got too accustomed to the polite and well behaved gods of Olympos, because she found Terenras' rogue manners intolerable. And he in turn considered Io a spoilt brat who had just used a poor god as a sperm donor and then ran off with the expected child, denying a helpless god the right to his fatherhood.

Io almost had to giggle at that remark, if there was something Zeus was not so was it helpless. A more competent man in any field was hard to find. Nevertheless Terenras attitude irritated her. She got more and more annoyed with his plump comments about her growing belly and her reluctance to tell who the father was. But Io was annoyed as well with Akone's unwillingness to defend a friend against her brute of a husband. To be true what refinery there had ever been in Akone seemed completely gone now. The goddess was perfectly fine with throwing chicken drumsticks on the floor and burp in public.

"So where does that leave me?" Io has said to the trees and the grass when she found herself on the road once again. Not that she expected an answer, she just wanted to voice her thought out aloud, perhaps it would help her think better and act more reasonable. But there was somebody answering her.  
"In my woods," a deep masculine voice was saying.

The next second there was a sound of ruffling leaves and snapping twigs and a tall, lean nature god stood in front of her on the narrow path trough the trees, unkempt brown hair flowing in the winds and green eyes twinking. He was barefoot and his red tunic had seen better days, but he carried himself like a royalty in spite.  
"Who?"  
"I'm Akaneion, protector of this forest and whatever dwells within it. And the one who keeps an eye of the passer-by's as well. Although they are mostly mortal travellers, so finding a goddess on this desolate track surprised me to say the least. So to whom do I owe the pleasure? "  
"Io. Io of Aragana."  
"And where is the beautiful Io going? Not Olympos, I take it, since that ought to be in the other direction."

"You're right, I'm coming from that place, even if my trip from there became rather roundabout. But I'm planning to head for the coast, to perhaps go to some of the islands."  
"Alone?" Akaneion corrected himself: "Or should I say you and the babe alone? "  
"Well…"  
"You know these roads can be dangerous even for a goddess. There are still lingering Titans, and while they seldom bother with mortals save for stealing their cattle, they don't like the sight of the beings who defeated them."

"I was never in the Titan war. "  
"And you think a pea-brained Titan can tell the difference?" Akaneion chuckled. "No, milady, any god or goddess they might encounter they try to make life as miserable as possible for. So that's why I prefer to stay put in my forest, where my magic is as strong and accurate as possible. "

"Sounds like a smart decision, Akaneion. Problem is that I don't have a home like that at the moment."  
"No prob' you're welcome to stay as long as you want here. I can use some intelligent company. You know dryads are lovely beings but they don't have much more than woods between their ears. "  
"Tell me about it!" Io smiled, even as she thought she heard several snorts from the trees around them. She had after all not ever called her dryad friends dumb, even if she was bent to agree with Akaneion on that account.

Thus it became Akaneion she stayed with, living in the guest room of his pretty little cottage in a clearing in the woods and it was two of his dryads who had midwived her on the morning Epaphus had been born nearly four months later. But after Epaphus' birth the behaviour of Akaneion had changed if ever so slightly. First there had been merely subtle hints and those had been so understated first that Io had more or less thought that she was imagining them. But more and more it had dawned upon her that Akaneion was considering her a fair game after that her child had been born and there had been no father to come forwards and claiming it.

Io had answered with her body-language, trying to make the forest good understand that she was not interested in any kind of relationship with him. To no avail. When Akaneion had become too eager Io felt that she could not take it anymore, and she had managed to sneak out of Akaneion's forest one early dawn with the sleeping Epaphus in her arms. Akaneon's last words were still ringing in her hears 'I'll even adopt the child if that is what you want, raise him as my own'. Sure, those words had been hard to counter, she was certain she weren't ever going to hear such promises again, at least not when it concerned little Eppie. On the other hand she knew that she would never be content with spending the rest of the eternity in the woods with a talkative nature god and a posse of dryads as her only company. To be true it was already boring her.

First she feared that Akaneion would pursue her, but he was probably not keen enough to leave the safety of his own forest. And that was another reason Io was certain she would never stay with a man like him. He was too content with what he had, too less interested in competition and adventures, while she was almost the other way around. All right she had been content on Olympos, but that was after all Olympos, _the_ very centre of the world, and where adventures came _to_ you instead of the other way around.

So once again Io was on the road, the only difference now was that she was carrying an infant strapped on her back. And she had no more ideas about where she was heading. She just kept on walking, lost for ideas, hoping that wearing her shoes would help her get some brilliant suggestion as to where to go with a child. She knew that there were other pantheons and divine gatherings around but most of them were small and far off. In fact it seemed that the whole divine world was drawn to Olympos like it was some kind of giant god magnet. And that she was the only one heading in the opposite direction.

She kept herself and little Eppie invisible most of the time, not in the mood to talk to other travellers, divine or otherwise. And she stopped for the nights in small copses, trying to ignore the ever so curious and talkative dryads and other nymphs hanging around in those places.

Eventually Io found herself nearing more populated areas. Populated by mortals that was. And as usual with mortals there were all kind of busy activities going around. They were not content with just hanging around like most immortals. Probably because they had to work so hard for shelter, safety and sustenance in a way no immortal ever had. So the roads were becoming more and more filled with traffic of all kinds. Walking people, riding people, people using chariots drawn by various critters. People travelling alone or in groups. Old people, young people, men, women, children. Families or larger groups. Military men or civilians, rich or poor. People travelling with goods or pilgrims heading to or from temples dedicated to the various gods. Beggars, workers, slaves, priests, merchants, bards, peasants, whores, scholars, medics… every kind of mortal there was. And disguised as yet another mortal Io soon found that she was blending in nicely. No one took notice of yet another comely looking woman with a baby on her back. Save for some merchants selling all kind of baby stuff of course who kept on calling out as she passed by. But mostly she ignored them.

Io soon found the source of all this antics. A mortal city, like a beating heart resting in a sunny valley. This was the city of Thebes, although Io didn't know its name at that time. Not until she started to read the minds of some of the travellers. That way she also learned that the king and queen of the city were hiring. They were expanding their court to be able of governing the fast-growing area and were trying to fill all kind of vacant positions, from kitchen personnel to accountants. Mostly soldiers and other security personnel it seemed, and that was the reason for all the travelling men in arms. But there were also the need for a wet nurse for the queen. And Io got a certain feel that she was the very one for that position. After all she could make enough milk for both Eppie and another child, if she so should desire.

In consequence it didn't take her that long to locate and reach the castle's employment office. And well there she got to learn the noble art of queuing. Upon reaching the make-shift shack outside the castle she was told to to walk up to a boy about the age of 12 who was handing out rougly cut wooden cards with figures burnt into them. Queue cards. There were other boys and girls calling out numbers and guiding in the waiting applicants to the tiny rooms where the interviews were performed. They then took the cards and hung them on the doors, to keep track on what numbers to come up next.

Io received the number 87 while the highest number on the doors was 34, which meant that there were quite some time before her own number would come up. To do something useful with the time she went for a stroll in the town, buying some fruit at a market, checking the surroundings out. In a shadow of solitude she fed and changed diapers of Eppie and then she found the temples of the city gods. Zeus and Hera of course plus some gods she had never heard of. The sight of the statues of the divine couple made her almost home-sick. Home-sick for a place that was not her home anymore, and longing for a time that was now lost to her.

Yet she still didn't regret a thing. Not when holding her sweet baby in her arms. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her, and she loved him with all her heart, her sweet little Ephaphus with the sky-blue eyes. Just like his father! Io just wished certain things could have been different. She was so tired of being on the road now, and not finding a place to settle in for real.

In her divine mind she knew that her number would soon come up, she could feel that the number 72 was just being called out. So she started to walk back to the employment bureau.

"I'm here for the wet nurse occupation, Io told the elderly lady behind the worn wooden desk in the tiny and hot room. It smelled of old wood, mould and sweaty, unwashed mortal and the only light came from a flickering oil lamp and rays of sunlight seaping trough the chinks between the wooden planks.  
"And what experience do you have?"  
"None, I have more milk.

The slight pun didn't go well with the mortal, Io could tell. She realised that mortals of a certain age tended to get all stern and stiff, like they were somehow forgetting the funny angle of life. Perhaps they got jaded and cynical, Io thought, and decided to go for another approach. What an irony, besides, that the woman was probably about 50 years younger than Io herself.  
"This is my first try at the position, I admit," she told the mortal lady. "But I'm young and healthy and my own child is strong, I do have a lot to milk to spare. In fact when my little one is content, there's always a lot left by the wayside since I can't stop it from leaking. "

"Hmm, the lady said. It's your first child? She indicated the sleeping Epaphos.  
"Yes, he is."  
"And your age?"  
"17", Io made up.  
"Do you have any family around? A husband?"  
"My family lives up north. My husband was killed in the war. I was planning to return to my family but the trip seemed a bit unsafe for a lone girl and an infant."

The lady continued to ask all kinds of questions, and Io found it quite easy to come up with plausible replies, after all she had soon started to read the lady's mind and giving her replies somewhat along the line of what the mortal wanted to hear. After a while the lady leaned back in her chair and confirmed:  
"The job is yours, girl. Since there's no other woman around fit enough for the job, it is after all not an easy position to fill. You start immediately. The payment is food and shelter plus 6 silver talents a week, to be paid on Fridays before the ceremonies to Hera. One of the maids will accompany you to the queen. "

Thus started Io's new life as a mortal.


	6. The Two Queens

**6. The two queens**

The Theban queen's name was Castate, she was a petite and blond girl aged 18, and with a cute, elfin face and greyish green eyes. She looked like a kind and gentle being with her fine features and freckled little nose, but nothing could be more wrong. Io soon learned that the queen was far from friendly. At least not to a wet nurse who fed the royal princess Androdora. No, Castate was haughty and posh and kept looking down her nose at everyone beside her closest maids and the old Mother of the king.

To be true save for the first short 'interview' Io hardly got to meet the queen Castate, instead the one who usually came to her with princess Androdora was a maid named Lika. Lika was a plump brunette with humorous and sparkling brown eyes who never missed a chance to chat away with Io while the latter breast fed the infant princess. It was trough Lika Io got to learn almost all of what happened around the castle. While Castate was the real queen, Lika was the queen of gossip, as well informed as Hestia had been back at Olympos.

"You know, Iola...", Lika always started before delivering one detail more juicy than the other. Iola being the name Io was using as her undercover. That way Io got to learn who the captain of the guards was cheating on his wife with, who was stealing chickens from the kitchen and who was the real father of the chancellors presumed son. And that the chief accountant Plymnius fancied young boys. Plus the fact that most of the "maids" around the queen were far from the virgins they were supposed to be. It seemed that the mortals were playing the very same kind of games as the gods, although not so much in the open.

Io could have played along if she liked, she had created a comely enough appearance for herself, and she found that several men around her were giving her the eye. But she was not inclined towards mortal men. She didn't want to get involved with someone who would be old and gray in a blink of an eye. She knew more than enough about god/mortal relationships to know that nothing good could come out of it. Those so"called demigods were more or less always restless beings with a burning desire for adventures who ran off and did reckless things and eventually got themselves killed in the most macabre ways. She sure wanted nothing of that for a child of hers.

Instead she was watching young Epaphos develop, she got to hear his first words and see him learn to sit up, then rise and walk. And she felt sadness in her heart upon the knowledge that there was no one to share those little miracles with. An active father. The first months Epaphos used to play a bit with Androdora, then the queen suddenly figured that a wet"nurse's son was not good enough for her princess, so as soon as the girl were fed and burped, Lika was ordered to take her away.

Not that Io really minded, she found it only slightly amusing. And it might as well be for the best, her divine son was of course developing so much faster than the queen's mortal daughter, and Io didn't want anyone to wonder about the lad. It was hard enough to keep his divine traits a secret, to make sure he didn't levitate in front of anyone or set something on fire.

¤*¤*¤*¤

When Io had been in Thebes for almost a year it was time for the great festival of Hera. The main event of the festival was one of those prossessions Io had seen so many off, with people dressing up in colourful costumes and dancing, playing and singing and carrying libations up to the colourful temple on the hill. The temple of Io's old friend…

Not only the goddess was given food that day, but the king was doling out bread, wine and meat to the commoners from large tables, and there were musicians and actors performing and jugglers and fire eaters doing their stunts all over the place. It sure was a day of festivities. Io walked with her son trough the melee, little Eppie taking it all in trough large round eyes, which had the very same sky"blue colour as his revered father.

Io found that she was enjoying herself. Just looking at all those happy people celebrating brought a smile upon her face. And when Eppie got tired she lifted him up upon her shoulders and carried him that way. Along the way a petite woman stopped her, asking:  
" Isn't it heavy carrying him like that?"  
" I don't really mind…"  
" But he looks like a big boy. You know my brother is manufacturing those special prams which can be used for…"  
" …pushing babies in. I know, I've seen them around. But I assure you I'm perfectly fine with carrying my son. "

" My brother might become a royal deliverer. The queen Castate has expressed her interest in…"  
" Thanks, but I'm fine, besides I cannot afford one of those prams anyway! "

After some more exchanges of the similar kind Io had managed to chase off the obstinate saleswoman and not long after she found herself ascending the temple hill and arrive at the large open plaza in front of the temples of Hera and Zeus. To not having to answer more questions about carrying her son on her shoulders Io conjured up a back"carrier and put the child there, trying to still his protests. After all carrying your child on the shoulders was the immortal way. Mortals seldom did it, because the kids were too heavy for them to carry that way for a longer period.

It was even more crowded up here than it had been downtown and Io realised she saw very little of what was going on in front of the temple, and besides Epaphos was beginning to become grumpy. He didn't fall asleep the way he used to do as a baby, he was more or less awake the whole days nowadays and now he wanted to go down and play. So Io struggled herself out from the crowd again, and figured that there would be more space for herself and her son at the backside of the temples.

Within minutes she came around a calm little park, where the silence and solitude proved an almost overwhelming contrast to the hustle and bustle and noise of the front side of the temple. Here was a bench where Io could sit down and take out the fruit, wine, water and bread she had brought with her. After feeding Epaphos a little snack the lad was content with playing a bit by himself over at the little pond. After all he was used to it, and it hurt Io a bit that she was not able to provide him with friends his own age. That there were only him and her, when there should be…

Her thoughts were interrupted when a shadow fell over her. Then a familiar voice was saying:  
" Io! How strange to find you here of all places."

Io looked up and met the dark eyes of the very goddess today's celebration was honouring. And a second later the two friends were hugging hard, Io almost getting a lump in her chest.  
" Hera! I should've guessed you'd be here, but…"  
" You never expected me in this place, right? You thought I was up front, receiving my gifts?"  
" Well…"  
" It does get tiring after a while. And even slightly embarrassing. You know, I'm not yet used too…" Hera shrugged. "So why did you end up in Thebes?"  
" Coincidences. And after a… "

They got interrupted by Epaphos who came running:  
" Mummy, look, I caught a fragon… gradon… A…"  
" A dragonfly, dearest," Io told after seeing an image in the mind of the child of what he carried cupped in his little hands. "Now Epaphos, let it go away, I'm sure it doesn't like being imprisoned like that. "  
" Mommy, please…"  
" No, you can't keep it. "

" Is that the little one?" Hera said. "Then the queen of gods kneeled down by the boy and asked him:"  
" Let me see the dragonfly, dearest. Then I guess you should be doing as your mother says and set it free. "

Looking at Hera with curious blue eyes Epaphos opened up his hands and after a few seconds the large insect took off with a buss, circling up in the sky, almost seeming surprised over its newfound freedom.  
" You have beautiful clothes," Eppie said to Hera. "Almost… almost… more beautiful than the queen. "  
" Why thank you, little dear", Hera said and smiled. "That might have to do with the fact that I'm too a queen. In a land not far away from here. "  
" You're a friend of my mother? "  
" Yes I am. A long term friend. She patted Epaphos lightly on his cheek. "  
" Is that why you're visiting here. "  
" Sort of", Hera told.

" You're much nicer than the queen of Thebes." Eppie went on. "She's always stern and harsh and we're not allowed to play around where she is. She'd never bothered with an insect. In fact I think she dislike those too."  
" You know a lot of people are scared by insects," Hera told.  
" Why, they are so tiny after all."  
" Probably because they are strange and come too close. Most people don't want strange creatures near themselves, it makes them uncomfortable. "

Then she turned to Io:  
" He's a smart lad. Smart and beautiful. You sure you don't want to bring him with you and return to Olympos? After all there are some divine children around now, and he might need friends his own age. And not mortal ones that is. "  
" Hera, you know I can't."  
"And why is that, dear? Because of the father?"

Io shrugged noncommittally.  
" Io! Who is he? No, don't look away, Io, talk to me! I can… we can fix this together. Let me talk to him, explaining that he has to accept his responsibility. And besides you can't hide for the rest of the eternity. Now come forward and talk to me."  
" I'm sorry…"  
" Io! Don't do this to yourself! Don't let some man drive you away from the life you could have! And your son!"

Io felt tears prickle her lids, how could she ever tell? And what lie could she use instead?  
" Who is he?" Hera insisted. "Someone I know? "  
" None significant", Io shrugged, "just a storm god. "

As a matter of fact that hadn't been an entire lie. Zeus had been born to become a storm and thunder god originally, a god of fierce and wild weather, but he had chosen to take up the fight against the Titans instead. Then, after disposing of the Titan tyrant leader Chronos Zeus had become elected the new King of the Gods with a land sliding majority vote. To put a long story short that was. But Zeus could still be regarded as a storm god, and he was still doing some tampering with the weather whenever that was needed.

" Well if he's noboby important, why do you let him hinder you?" Hera sounded almost irritated when she faced Io with a firm look.  
" It's a bit… more complicated than that," Io heard herself say, and feared that she was beginning to snare herself. She really hoped Hera would return to her worshippers now. But the queen of the gods made no move to leave. She glanced a bit at Epaphos who had returned to playing.

" It's someone I know, right?"  
" Well…"  
" You know his age fits well with a certain party at Poseidon's. And there were quite a few available and high"profiled gods there. If it's anyone of them they all answer to the court of Olympos. I can promise you that whoever he is, he'll have to accept his responsibility over the child he made that night. "  
" Hera, I don't need any help. I'm doing fine. "  
" Here among those mortals? You've got to be kidding. Nevertheless I'll let you off the hook for the time being. But you know where you can find me should you change your mind. Now take care, and try to use your wits and brain. A much better life is not that far away if you just stuff some of that stubborn pride of yours."

With those words Hera had bide her goodbye to Io and Epaphos and left, much to Io's relieve. Had she recognized the blue of Eppie's eyes? Had she really not suspected a thing?


	7. Friendship Lost

_A bi hug and thanks to all of you who keeps leaving feedback, you inspire me to go on! _

**Friendship ****lost**

Five years passed. Five years while Io breastfed the new Theban heir Aristomachos and then his little brother Ias. But then queen Castate must have decided that Io was too old for performing as wet nurse any more. Either that or the queen simply did not want to carry anymore children. The latter was very much understandable because the relationship between Castate and king Dorius had became strained since the king had begun to cheat on his queen, taking pleassure from the younger maidens of the court. Was that a common royal curse? Io couldn't help wonder, thinking back on her own affair with the divine king Zeus.

Whatever the reason was for Castate's desision, Io became dismissed from her duties. And once again the goddess found herself and her son on the road again. This time she had more or less made up her mind to seek out one of those smaller pantheons residing in the shadows of the grand and mighty Olympos. Io felt that she needed to be around her own kind again, and not having to pretend, the way she always did among the mortals .

There was a pantheon on the island Delos, Io knew. A place where her old acquaintance Leto was living these days. That was the closest one. Then there was another one at the island Cytherea where Dione came from and yet another north of Sparta that might be reachable too, although Io wasn't familiar with any of those gods. The other pantheons she knew about were far away across the seas, in Egypt, Assyria and Sumeria, and she didn't plan to go that far. At least not as a first try. Besides she was accustomed to the Greek gods and the Greek ways, the foreign pantheons she knew almost nothing about. She had met Enlil and Amon on Olympos once, that was as far as it came. And they both seemed foreign and strange, with odd habits and manners.

Epaphos had protested, he didn't want to leave Thebes; he had made friends in the castle and had already started school. To cover for his fast development, Io had lied about how old he was, added one year to his age, but soon not even that proved enough, so it became another reason for them to leave. After all she didn't want to hold back her sons developement, even if he was bright and intelligent and had soon learned that he couldn't use his divine powers in front of mortals.

" But we are going to see people of our own kind now", Io had told.  
" Other gods?" Epaphos had asked.  
" Yes."  
" Are we going to Olympos?" the boy's face lit up with excitement. He had after all too heard the stories of the magnificent home of the major gods.  
" Perhaps later. Now we are going to an island named Delos. An old friend of mine lives there and she and her sister have children who are about your age. You sure going to love it there", Io tried to convince her son. And - to be true - herself as well.

¤*¤*¤*¤

As the ship set sail and left the harbour of Piraeus Io wondered if she was doing the right thing. She had been in touch with Leto trough the divine communication way of using scrying mirrors. Leto had been more than happy, and welcomed Io with open arms. At the same time Io had a feeling that she ought to stop running and instead facing both Hera and Zeus with the fact that Epaphos was her son with Zeus. After all it didn't become easier the longer she waited. And she was convinced she couldn't keep that secret forever.

She hadn't told Leto either, because she was really not sure that Leto could keep such a secret. How Leto would react to the news. So Io decided to wait until she was face to face with Leto, to make sure her message about keeping Epaphos' identity a secret hit home. After all Leto's relation with Zeus had been of a quite different kind. It was only mere coincidences which had led Zeus to choose Hera as his bride instead of Leto. Coincidences – and love. Io so wished that she too would find someone to love for real one day. Something which was impossible if she kept hiding among mortals.

It was a beautiful day to be at the sea, and Io soon forgot her worries. The sun was shining from an almost cloudless sky and a strong wind was blowing from the northwest, pushing the vessel forwards. The sea was glittering in the sunlight, the gulls were calling out and the small islands they passed by looked pretty and inviting. Io knew she could have chosen other, quicker ways of travelling. Flying like a true goddess for instance. But riding a boat was comfortable and it gave her time to think. To figure out what she was going to tell Leto to make her understand what Io really was running from. The goddess cast a glance over her shoulder to where Eppie had found some children his own age to play with and then she leaned on the railing, resting her arms on the darkbrown wood, worn smooth and shiny by many arms before her, and looking out over the blue waves.

" Io! Again I meet you among mortals!"  
Io looked up. And there she was once more. Hera. Disguised as a mortal amazon this time with a short and tight, black leather outfit and a heavy sword on her back, jackaranda hair tied up underneath those suede caps the amazones wore in battle. But Io recognized the queen, and once again she hoped to embrace her friend. But Hera backed off ever so slightly, and there was something sad in her large, dark eyes.  
" What?" Io asked.  
" Not now. I'm not in the mood for anyone touching me, especially not in a place like this. "

The way Hera said 'place like this' gave away that she had no desire at all to be on a mortal ferry. And it made Io wonder…  
" Why? Where are you going dressed up like an amazon?"  
" That's none of your business," Hera suddenly sounded hostile in a way Io had never heard before. All right it had been five years, but that was nothing in the eyes of an immortal. Their friendship ought to be worth more than something you just dismissed. Even if you was the queen of the gods, like Hera. Io rose a questioning brow.

" I saw your son, Io," the queen went on. "And he reminded me of your evasive game last time we saw each other. I offered to help you then and all you did was avoiding my held out hand and suggestions. I wanted to to aid a once dear friend, and you were more or less intimidating. And it made me wonder…"

" Hera, I just… I didn't mean to offend you, I just wanted to tell that I was in no need of help. I was doing fine. Still am to be true."  
" Who's the father to Epaphos?" Hera said with a voice sounding more angered than Io had ever heard it before and she took a hesitant step back, like a reflex, and glanced over her shoulder again, at Epaphos' dark blond curls and tanned neck where he sat a bit away bent over a game of stones and dices together with some other children, laughing happily like the world held no care at all.  
" No one. I mean no one you know, Hera."  
" 'Just a storm god' right? Well I happen to know several of them. I'm even married to one of them." The royalty's eyes were just slits now and there were red stains on her cheeks, when she lowered the voice to an almost lethal hiss. "Tell me, Io! Is it Zeus?"

" Hera," Io nearly gasped. "Do I look like someone who cheat on her best friend with her man? Epaphos is blond, yes. But there are more blond gods around than your husband. And the man I met was just as blond as Zeus, only not that regal. He was, just as I said, just a nobody storm god. I don't even think I'd recognize him if I saw him today."  
" And you met him at Olympos?" Hera scorned. "And still you claim I wouldn't know him. "  
" I didn't say I met him at Olympos. "

" But you did. The timeline fits with the party at Poseidon. When I left early to help poor Dione. And you took advantage of my absence to sneak away into the bushes with Zeus. Don't you think I have brains enough to draw those conclusions?"  
" That's not what happened! "  
" Don't give me that crap, you stupid cow!" Hera was raging. "I want the truth! What happened between you and my husband?"  
That was it. Now Io couldn't hold back her tears. Gasping for breath she felt her eyes blur and the salty liquid trail down her cheek.  
" I… he…" she began. "There was just… one event. One mistake… I did…"

Hera's backhanded slap stung hard on Io's cheek.  
" I thought you were my friend! My best friend! I brought you to Olympos. I helped you, I gave you a job. I so trusted you – with everything there was. I even let you stay in our home. Mine and Zeus's. And you went behind my back in the most low and shameful way. You took from me the finest I had, the one I valued most in life. And you knew all the time how much I loved that man. How much Zeus meant to me."  
" I didn't take him. I just…"  
" Shut up slut! Shut up your shameful cow, you lying bitch. I do never want to see you again. Ever, Io! I hope your consciousness will chase you like a gadfly across the world and that you'll find nowhere to rest!"

" I'm sorry, I…"  
" There are some things 'being sorry' cannot help. And what you did was one of them. "  
" Hera?"

But when Io looked up there was no one there to be seen. Hera had disappeared as swift as she had arrived. And the mortals went on with their little businesses as if they hadn't seen a thing, which they after all most probably hadn't.

¤*¤*¤*¤

" That's why I cannot go back to Olympos. Ever." Io told Leto. "I regret it so much. Well not my son, I love him over everything else. But that I had to… That it ruined Hera's and my friendship."  
Leto sat silent for a while in her comfortable coach, looking out over the endless blue Aegean sea. Io waited, fingering on her golden cup of wine. They were sitting at a terrace outside the magnificent palace that hosted the Delos pantheon. The pantheon was really nothing more than Leto, her husband Pandios and their daughter plus Leto's twins with Zeus, Apollo and Artemis. Then there were Leto's sister Asteria, her husband Acorind and their son.

Just as promised Leto had given Io a generous and heartwarming welcome and then listened to her sad story, trying her best to comfort her guest. Now she returned her sea"green eyes to the other goddess, saying:  
" It's not just your fault, Io. Does anyone really have to point out that there's two involved? Zeus was as fault as well, if not even more. He was the one who was married and he was the one who seduced you, even while knowing that you was Hera's best friend. "  
" Leto…"

" Let me finish, Io. I know that man very well. He is after all the father to my oldest little cubs. And he ruined his two first marriages by having affairs with other women. I had a fair chance of becoming wife number three. A chance I dismissed because I knew that I would be cheated on just like Metis and Themis had been. Did you know that my pregnancy was just weeks old when I saw him flirting down Hera the first time. At that moment I decided that I was not having it, and I did the same thing as you. I left Olympos. And I can't say I've never regretted it. Zeus is a walking miracle, he's strong, smart and handsome and a brilliant leader. Not to mention sex on a stick. And I was this close to catch him for myself. Leto indicated with the thumb closing in on her index finger, making a circle. Yet now it seems that he's way into the process of ruining his third marriage. Io, you're not the only one he has betrayed Hera with, you know. He'll break her heart. And then who's left? Who's ever going to want him anymore, knowing his history with women?"

" More than enough girlies will line up," Io responded cynically. "Thinking that they can really be the one who makes Zeus stay faithful."  
" You're right," Leto sighed. "I can think of several now when you're hinting at it. Dione for instance. Demeter or Selene. Or Maia. "  
" Maia? The young daughter of Atlas, you mean? Her father would kill her if she ever ended up in bed with his old arch enemy. "  
" Don't think so. Atlas is smarter than that. He doesn't dare to risk more of Zeus' hostilities. He has already been expelled almost to the end of the world. And that happened when Zeus was in a nice mood. Now, Io, I can talk to Hera if you want. She listens to me. She knows I've been there done that with Zeus too, and she respects me for having that experience. If I explain these things to her she might get a bit more realistic view on the events. "

" You can always try."  
" Trust me I will. Leto sat down her cup with a movement as if she was planning to fly off to Olympos at the very moment. "  
" I appreciate that. I really do! Io said. Thank you so much, Leto!"

It sure felt quite a bit better after talking with Leto, even if Io was not really convinced that the older goddess would be able to sway Hera, who was after all known for being stubborn. And later the same day she was invited to stay at the Delos pantheon as long as she should wish, by Leto and her generous family. This time it felt like a turning of a page, a chanse to begin a new life.


	8. Tereanos

**Tereanos**

It wasn't exactly love at first sight. Far from it. Io didn't care at all that a foreign god was visiting the pantheon. She was busy training the children of the pantheon in archery. Well, not all of them, Asteria's oldest daughter Dadina was more into gardening and didn't care at all for arms and Leto's youngest son Inandon was a bit too little. But her own Epaphos as well as Apollo and Artemis loved the lesions. The twins soon became really skilled with archery, and sought to outdo the other one the whole time. In the end Io more or less had to tear the bows out of their hands to have them run off to their other classes, like foreign languages or accounting.

" Accounting sucks!" Artemis stated with a sour face. "It's so flipping boring I'm surprised that the sun and the moon don't fall out of the sky. "

At her sullen comment a heartily and strong male laugher rung out from the balustrade to the side of the training ground. Io turned her head. There he was again, the dark"skinned god with shaven head and an ankle"length crimson tunic with wide arms. He stood akimbo watching the youngsters gathering together bows and quivers, and Io could tell that he had been standing there for a while but not letting himself be noticed until now.

Io wasn't so sure she approved of that behavior, sneaking around invisible felt to her like some kind of dishonesty. And even if the archery practice with children wasn't really something classified she would have appreciated if the stranger had been more open with being spectator.

Anyhow Io made sure that the children got their equipment together and then she walked over to the foreign god. "Enjoyed yourself?" she asked, a bit harsher than she had wanted. He nodded silently. "So what brings you down here?" she went on.  
" I just wanted to have a look around the pantheon. It's a nice place. Airy and relaxed. And you have a good hand with the children, lady…"  
" Io of Delos, originally Aragana."  
" Tereanos of Aegyptos. Pantheon of Amon."  
" Nice to meet you, Tereanos. How long are you staying?"  
" Just for the night. I'm an emissary to Olympos. To give my regards from great Amon to the high king Zeus."

More pleasantries had been exchanged and that had been it. And the next morning Tereanos had left with Leto to go to Olympos. Leto had tried to talk Io into joining, but Io declined. She was still not sure she wanted to confront Hera again. Not after their last hostile encounter upon that boat a few years back.

¤*¤*¤*¤

Two days later Tereanos had returned together with Leto. But he had still failed to leave a lasting impression upon Io who had been more interested in learning what Hera had told Leto.  
" Not much really," Leto had said. "She's still angered and sad. But Io – it's little comfort I know – yet her main anger is directed at Zeus these days. Their marriage is crumbling to dust now."

" That saddens me to hear," Io said. "Hera is… was… used to be my best friend. She and I were really close. Until that wretched bloke of hers came in the way. I mean why does the man have to be so irresistible? And why does he use it like that? Hurting the people he loves?"  
" Honestly, I don't know." Leto's green eyes echoed the sadness Io felt. "Apollo has the same charm, I can tell this even at this early age. He's already eyeing up the mortal girls downtown, even though he's not even fourteen. I really hope he's listening to what his step father tries to teach him in the matter. Pandios is patient and emphatic but Apollo can be difficult sometimes, because he only listens to what he wants to hear. "

" How so?" Io asked.  
" He loves his music classes. And the archery you are teaching him. As well as medicine and developing that gift of prophecy he has inherited from my mother. But the rest! Martials arts, maths, divine history…" Leto shook her head. Then she went on. "But this is not about Apollo, I'm sorry, but a mother always worries about her children."  
" Tell me about it," Io said, glancing over at where Epaphos was fencing with Leto's oldest son Ladeon, using iron"blades, which were harmless to immortals, while Acorind was overlooking them. "What more did Hera say?"

" She wants to leave Zeus, but she feels she has to wait until their son Ares becomes a bit older. Now, that's a child who's bound for trouble. You should see him, he seems really adorable, when he sits down and stays quite. But that seldom happens, most of the time he's around picking fights. Even with kids twice his size. Quite often he beats those children too. Still I'm just waiting to hear that he's taken on more than he can fence off. Poor lad, but that's a lesson he's going to need. "  
" That's tough. Then I understand Hera wanting to stay. You don't leave a marriage with a child that unruly. He'll need a steady hand both from the father and the mother. "

¤*¤*¤*¤

Tereanos returned the next year. Once again stopping by on his way to Olympos. And this time Io got a bit more time together with the Aegyptian god. After the dinner at the pantheon Tereanos asked Io for a walk down the beach, and she accepted to keep him company. Mostly out of politeness, but she soon found that Tereanos was an interesting conversation partner. As a divine emissary he had been around the world quite a bit, and he told about the pantheons he had visited and about the gods and goddesses he had met.

" How do you perceive them?" Io asked him. "Are they like us?"  
" There are similarities as well as differences. I'd say that you Hellenes are quite straightforward and honest. A lot of gods likes to play mysterious and hides behind their high walls, not letting anyone really meet them. Some are belligerent and want to scare you, desire to display what powers they wield. The Sumerians and the Mesopotamians do their best to try to show off. They exercise authority, let you wait for days to receive their leaders and they treat you like a king in the meantime – not out of kindness but as a way to flaunt their fortunes. After that it's always a relief to come to Olympos, and obtain the candor of Zeus. "

Then Tereanos had talked quite a bit about his own pantheon. It seemed like an exhilarating place. Not as mysterious as those eastern pantheon but still exotic enough to interest Io. He had told her of the Garden of Delight where his pantheon head Amon held court, about the other gods, Isis, Osiris, Hathor, Horus… About their lush pantheon in the highlands where the river Nile was born from the wells of youth. He had described the beauty of their home, and the magic ways with which they kept it hidden from the mortals, because their Garden of Delight was not located on a desolate mountain top like the mighty Olympos.

" I'd like to visit one day," Io had let him know. "Would it be possible, you think?"  
" Of course. It might even be possible to travel with me when I return from Olympos and go back home tomorrow. If it doesn't interrupt with some duties of your own of course. "  
" I'll make myself available," Io smiled. "After all my only obligation really is to teach the children of this pantheon archery, divine history and politics. And it's not like they can have a week or two off from my classes. Even kids need their holidays. Plus I can always give them homework."

" Sounds reasonable. And Io?"  
" Yes?"  
" Do bring your son too, it can be educating for him. "  
" Thank you Tereanos."  
" You can call me Ter, Io. All my friends do!"

¤*¤*¤*¤

Aegyptos was hot, bright and fascinating. Io had never been so far from home before, and she was taken aback at how different it all was. And yet the same. She remembered her father's tales from the lands up north, where he had gone when he was young. Inakhos had told of harsh lands where the winter lasted for two thirds of the years, the summers were wet and cold and the people were fair"haired and freckled and lived in small towns where the houses were made of wood.

Aegyptos was nothing like that. Its strangeness was quite different. The whole land was arranged around the mighty river Nile which ran like a main artery across the lowland plains. Where it streamed through the land was green and flowering, a paradise of beauty. A stark contrast to the areas outside, barren desserts of stone and sand and where the burning sun beamed down relentlessly from a cloudless sky, and the wind was hot and merciless.

The people were dark-skinned, to protect them from sunburns and they appeared more haughty and reserved than the mortals of the Hellenic lands. The noble people surrounded themselves with servants and slaves and lived in palaces worthy of gods, where the poorer people lived in huts made out of clay. The disparity between the classes in the society made the Greek kingdoms seem like a wonder of equality.

There were more notable differences in Egypt. The nights were colder and darker than those back home and the food were spicier and the wine stronger and rarer. The Aegyptian didn't drink it mixed with water like the Greeks; on the other hand they drank it much more seldom.

Io, Thereanos and Epaphos had arrived by boat from the sea, and now they were ferried south, upwards the blue Nile. Io was resting in the shade beneath the canopy, regarding the beautiful gardens and palaces they passed, the farmlands, the bridges, the canals, the other ships and most of all those strange beasts called crocodiles. First she had thought they were logs floating down the water. But Tereanos had pointed out one opening its huge gap. It resembled a dragon, although a dragon would never been seen swimming, let along come near water save for drinking it. Dragons preferred higher places in much colder climates, and according to Zeus they were on the border of extinction, because the Titans had hunted them down with a fervor only beaten by what they had done against the human immortals.

But these crocodiles seemed to be available in multitudes. And Eppie came running to her telling:  
" They eat people. They can finish off a mortal man in minutes. If you fall in you're toasted, the seven year old told. If you're a mortal that is. Gods like us might also get scratches from their teeth if we don't shield carefully, because the beasts think we're edible too. "

Tereanos was following the boy and sat down next to Io, pouring up water from an amphora.  
" Yes they are animals to be spoken with respect of, even if they don't look that scary seen from a boat like this."  
" Talking about gods," Io asked Tereanos, "where are they? I haven't seen anyone save for the three of us since we came here. There are not even any dryads or naiads around."

Tereanos sighed:  
" The Titans got so many of those poor beings that they are almost gone now. And besides there weren't that many to begin with in those dessert lands. That's a shame, that's why there's dessert and no green forests and lush meadows anymore in this land. Still we're not that bad off. We've got the Nile, and her kind avatar you'll meet later. But if you go to the north"east, and should happen upon a land called Kanaan, you'll find it completely abandoned by immortals. That land echoes with emptiness and the mortals are lost in their souls. Haunted poor things! It's almost scary to see."

" What happened there?" Io asked. "The Titans again?"  
" The Titans were assholes," Epaphos stated, before busying himself with eating figs and nuts again. A sweet tooth just like his father, Io thought absentmindedly.  
" The Titans, yes. But there's also a war going on there between two tribal gods: Yahweh and Lucifer. And that war has scared off most other immortal beings. Not even Baal and Ashera go there anymore. "

" How about yourself?"  
" I'm not going near those gods," Tereanos stated. "And it's not cowardice, it's self preservation in it's purest form, Io! My precursor, the goddess Phoenda went there with a message from Amon. Amon asked them to take their quarrel to the court of Zeus before more gods and mortals suffered from their fight and the whole land became destroyed. Amon also offered to negotiate between the gods, should they desire against involving Zeus. But they declined Amon's offer in the most horrible way. Lucifer, who got his hands on Phoenda, beheaded her, and sent the head back to Amon. With the ears and tongue cut off and the eyes stung out. And that had been done when the poor goddess was still alive. Needless to say her soul is now lost down under and no one has been able to locate it so she can be brought back again. "

" Euhg!" Io made a face. "That sounds more like the act of Titans, than modern"time deities to be true. Are you sure they are humans?"  
" You're not the only one nurturing thouse doubhts. That's the reason I strongly advice against going there, at least as long as those hostilites are going on. Or at any rate until Zeus decides to put a stop to it. "  
" Why hasn't he done that yet?" Epaphos asked.  
" I guess he's too busy with all the gods actually coming for him to help, to be involved with gods who have not asked for help," Io told. "Leto said that he was going west now, to try to straighten out a similar fight between some Celtic gods. "

" What's that?" Epaphos suddenly asked and pointed. Io turned and beheld a large, white structure rising beyond the farmlands. It was impressive, it looked like an artificial mountain, white like snow and crowned with a cap of gold.  
" That's the Pyramid," said Tereanos. "It's a shelter against divine weapon and it was designed by Amon himself in case the Kanaan gods would expand their war here. The idea is that the mortals will hide in there while the gods battle outside. Mortals and life"stock and food and other necessities will be sheltered in there. After all Yahweh have been threatening the Aegyptian pantheon several times, and Amon won't risk having that god destroying his faithfuls. Now the spirits of a group of dead mortal royalties are keeping guard over the structure, preventing it from being plundered off what's already kept in there, like arms and treasures. "

" Can't my father help?" Epaphos asked.  
" Yes, if he makes it in time," Tereanos said. "After all if Zeus is in the Celtic lands now. I don't really know how far away that is, but say that a war should break out here tomorrow. Then someone must contact Zeus trough the scrying mirror system, and it might take some time before they reach him, because he's not expecting the call. Then he has to excuse himself to those Celt gods and after that it might take him hours, perhaps a day to get here. I don't know how fast a flyer he is. Meanwhile a lot of damage might be done. "

Epaphos gaped at the Pyramid which became larger and larger as they were getting closer.  
" It's huge! "  
" It's the largest building in the world," Tereanos said.  
" Do you think the war will come here?"  
" I'm not sure. But better safe than sorry. "

Io was staring too; her feelings echoed the superlatives her son was expressing while they came closer. The building was really enormous. And she wondered what kind of gods there were that would scare the mighty Amon into raising such a gigantic structure in his land. It must have cost a fortune to build.


	9. Prometheus

**Prometheus**

Two days later the travelling threesome had reached the Garden of Delight, the home of the Aegyptian gods. Here reigned the Ennead, nine gods representing the natural forces of the world, headed by dark"haired Amon who was the granduncle of Tereanos. And beside the Ennead there were a lot of other gods around, almost as many of them as io remembered there had been at Olympos. There were Amon's wife Amaunet as well as Hathor, Horus, Aton, Isis, Anuket, Osiris, Bast and a quite a few deities of lesser significance.

The first day Io had spent with Tereanos and his young sister Demira whose son Leh was getting along well with Epaphos. And later in the evening when Demira had left and the young boys had gone to sleep, Io and Tereanos had made love for the first time, in a cold and silent room Tereanos labeled his. And whatever had been said about Aegyptos and its palaces, Tereanos' room was plain and simple with only the barest necessaries in it. Io had been curious about the simplicity, taking the splendor of the Garden of Delight in mind, and Tereanos' reply had been straightforward enough:

" I travel so much that I do not have the time to wish myself a fancy palace to live in or to gather trinkets to fill it with. In consequence I prefer this simple way of living. That might change one day if I chose to form a family and stay home a bit longer. But before that happens I have no inclination towards a larger living space. In these little rooms I know where I have everything I own."

Io enjoyed three weeks in the beautiful Garden of Delight, and originally Tereanos had invited her to stay longer, but duty came in between. On the 24:th day Amon had approached them and informed that Tereanos' services were needed again.  
" You are to travel north, to the land of the Caucasus, he told. To see the wise man Prometheus. He might hold the key to finally cordon off those Kanaan gods who with their aggressive actions are threatening the whole area."  
" And what would that be?" Io wanted to know. What she remembered of Prometheus was that he was mostly an over"eager man who wanted to field test every crazy idea he had before even knowing that it wasn't killing all his test subjects. Like when he tried to teach the mortals to use the divine fire and ended up burning down a complete Greek city.

Amon had looked at her, for some reason he seemed surprised that she had spoken at all, and it made her a bit uncomfortable. Then he had said:  
" The wise man did not tell, although he was willing to offer us his tool to a certain price. "  
" And what is that?" Tereanos asked.  
" Four hundred gold talents. "

Io almost gasped at the price, but looking at Amon's stern eyes she felt it safe not saying a word. Although she was certain that no intelligence old Prometheus might possess would be worth half as much money.  
" Tereanos, I will send you and half the fee on a magic carpet tomorrow morning and I expect you back within a week with either the Promethean secret or the information that it was not worth the money. This gives you the time to return the Greeks to their pantheon too."

This was Amon's way to say that the price was not a fixed one but open for negotiation, and that the pantheon head was not inclined to pay more than half the price of the intelligence. It was also a polite way to say that Io and Epaphos were not welcome to stay any longer, and Io felt her shoulders slump, she had begun to like Tereanos and almost expected him to ask her to stay. But that, she knew now, was not about to happen. Tereanos was not a man who would go against his pantheon head. Was it Hera's curse, Io wondered, that was chasing her away from this place? Then she shrugged, she could go back to Leto and take up her life as a teacher at the Delos pantheon again. It had been a good enough life, although far from exciting.

¤*¤*¤*¤

The carpet ride to Caucasus took them only half a day, even though it was quite a long trip. And it was a novelty, both for Io and for Epaphos. They had not been aboard such a vehicle before, and Io found it a convenient way of travelling, comfortable and nice. Epaphos had soon learned to sit down; at least after Tereanos had told him that falling off was not a good idea.  
" It takes time and is complicated to pick up a passenger who has fallen over board, especially if we don't manage to catch you before you hit the ground or the sea, young man. "

Then the boy had been content with lying on his stomach and pointing out everything of interest, from the ships and islands in the sea to the various sightings of the land areas. A fire"spewing volcano in Anatolia had been of special significance to the boy.  
" It's angered Titans imprisoned down there," he informed.  
" Who told you that?" Io laughed."  
" Apollo did!"  
" Oh, the rascal! He and his imagination! "

" Leto's musical son? Tereanos asked, and when Io confirmed he wenton on: "He'll make fine bard that lad. Music and imagination together, that's what make the great singers. You're lucky to have him in your pantheon, Io. Hathor seldom have time for music these days, so our court is sadly silent now. "  
" Oh, I hope that will change," Io said.

Not much later had they crossed the Black Sea and flew in over the mighty mountain range where Prometheus were now spending his days in solitude, after falling out of grace with Zeus. Although the old god was not entirely alone, he had taken a wife, Pronoe, a quiet and shy woman who had offered refreshments but not really said that much to the guests.

After the small snack Prometheus had led his guests downstairs to a vast hall he referred to as his 'lab'. In the middle of the room, among a plethora of trinkets Io had no idea what they were for, an area was cleaned off. In the centre of that space stood a sole pedestal and upon it rested a pink orb which glowed and flickered faintly in the dusk light.

" That's the – ehm, thing?" Tereanos asked.  
" 'Thing' yeah. It's a hydrogen bomb. "  
" A what?" Io and Tereanos chorused.  
" It's a bit hard to explain how it works but deployed over Kanaan it will terminate both of those gods who are threatening your pantheon. Unfortunately it'll kill the mortals in the vicinity too, but I guess that you have to crack eggs to make an omelet."

" What wile magic can do such a thing?!" Tereanos exclaimed.  
" Oh, it's not magic at all, it's manipulations of the atoms, the very matter the world is made up of. The bomb will have them exploding, tearing themselves and everything around them apart. "  
" And this you offer my Amon?"  
" For the price of four hundred gold talents, yes."

Io felt the blood drain from her face when she envisioned the outcome, a vision of barren and dying land coming before her eyes. And something told her that the terror would not stop at the borders of Kanaan.  
" You can't deploy such a wicked thing, Tereanos!" She turned to the Aegyptos.

" You're right, Io," Tereanos said. "We don't burn a town down because of one house having termites. I can assure you that Amon will not cooperate to the death of mortals in the terrible way I see in your mind, Prometheus. Besides, has this bomb thing been tested properly, and if so where? What is it that proves it will work the way you describes? What if it instead shatters the whole area, destroying not only Kanaan but Aegyptos as well?"

" It won't. It has been field tested before; it was an item like this which sunk the Atlantis during the Titan war."  
" Chaos' daughters, Prometheus!" Io gasped, "and you label yourself as the 'champion of mankind'. How can you even think of using such a thing against them?"  
" If we don't the war might expand and there will be more and worse causalities. Who knows what those gods are capable of. And they have already shown very well that they are not interested in peace talks, not with Amon or anyone else."

" Zeus can…"  
" Screw Zeus!" Prometheus turned and spat on the floor before speaking again. "That sanctimonious bastard, I hope he chokes upon his own self-righteousness! He seems to be very content with sitting in a spectator's seat and watching it all unfold while sipping his soggy nectar. "  
" Prometheus, I know you dislike him…" Io started.  
" …dislike is an understatement for…"  
" … but right now he's in the land of the Celts preventing a similar war from breaking out. He can't be everywhere, all the time!"

" And what do the other gods do? What's that bitch Hera up to? Or Poseidon? I bet the latter is spending his time scaring the crap out of some poor sailors! "  
" I bet they are not," Io raged. "You're just bitter and astringent because you were dismissed from your chancellorship at Olympos after setting that town on fire."  
" It wouldn't have happened had the other gods helped me coming up with a way to make divine fire possible to use by mortals. But that selfish witch Hestia refused to share her assets and Zeus simply backed her and turned my enquiries down. As if his precious sisters' whims were more important than freezing mortals."

" Down under in Hades they cannot freeze anymore, courtesy of you, Prometheus!" Io snarled. She had no idea why she was defending the Olympians so passionately, after all she was not part of that pantheon anymore. On the other hand Zeus was Epaphos father, and she still felt some kind of affection for the handsome king of the gods. On top of that Io knew Zeus meant well. Yet so did Prometheus also, she could tell, although in his own odd way. Then she called for Ephaphos, told him to "Come here" before he poked his curious little fingers where they were not supposed to be poked. This cluttered hall must have seemed like paradise for the boy.

Prometheus crossed his strong arms over his chest, standing proudly in front of the pink orb.  
" Well, do you want the bomb or not, Aegypto?"  
" I think actually I'll pass on that, but thanks anyway. There's got to be a better way to get those gods to stop. "  
" We can of course wait until they finish each other off,"Prometheus scorned, that's always the easy way out for cowards.

" Prometheus," Io began, "this is not about cowardice. This is about wanting a war to end without unnecessary causalities. "  
" Do you know anything about those gods by the way?" Tereanos asked. "There must be some other way to reach them. Some way to reason with them, making them understand. Or at least some way to stop them forcefully but without harming more than what has already been harmed. They have after all whiped almost the whole land of all the nature beings there once was. All the nymphs and dryads are gone from Kanaan and soon it will be as barren as the western parts of my own country, where the Titans destroyed all that once was.

And you mightn know that when the nature gods go the mortals behig to suffer, begin to feel alienation towards their surrounding and in the end start destroying them. I don't know how it works, but there is a clear connection between the mortal's souls and the nature beings. The less nature there is the more the mortal souls cry out in pain. That's why we in Egypt work so hard to keep the dear Nile alive and well. And that's why we don't want the Kanaans to come to our land. "

" You're right," Prometheus seemed to retreat slightly. "But I'm not familiar with these gods. Neither are the gods of your pantheon it seems. Or the Olympians, because then they would surely have gotten involved. There is after all a possible way to reach the Kanaans. "  
" How?" Tereanos wanted to know.  
" Find a relative to either of those gods. Talk to him or her, explain what is happening and where the dire danger lies. Tell that god what you've been telling me! Make that god or goddess understand, and then plead with them to talk to the warring relative. To have that god asking his or her kin to listen to reason and seek council with your Amon! "

" And where do we find a relative?" Io enquired.  
" Unfortunately I don't know that, Prometheus said. You'll have to ask around, go through the various pantheons. Ask if there's any relative around to either Yahweh or Lucifer. If worse comes to worse you might even have to look down under, among the lost souls."  
" That sounds like a tedious task, Tereanos said. And what if we find that relative, and that one is not the slightest interested in helping us. "  
" Then there's nothing I can do, Prometheus said. Other than offering that bomb again. "

Tereanos sighed.  
" I'll have to discuss it with Amon. I'll have to try to call him. "  
" You have a mirror? Prometheus asked. "  
" I'm always bringing a portable one for dire circumstances and hard decisions," the Aegyptian replied. "I'll get back to you, Prometheus, after seeking Amon's advice."

¤*¤*¤*¤

When Tereanos had left to make his call Prometheus turned to Io:  
" Forgive me for losing my temper regarding the Olympians, Io. But I'm still quite upset with the way I was treated back then. The way my ideas and suggestions were always scorned and dumped by the wayside."  
" Don't let that torture you, Io replied. You're blaming both yourself and everyone around you for one or two events that went wrong…"  
" Zeus dismissed me, Io. I lost my chancellorship!"

" Prometheus, would you have liked to keep it then, when you saw that you and Zeus disagreed in most matters?"  
" I… These days I'm not sure. After all, I've always wanted to help people. Especially mortals and others who have less power and who often become swept away mercilessly by the currents of destiny. I felt that Zeus was holding me back, more eager to protect the Olympian's status than really helping others, the way he promised to do when he was elected King of Gods. "  
" It's a delicate balance," Io said.  
" Still I was not pleased with the development. "  
" Prometheus now that you are on your own you can help people the way you see fit. Now you are not burdened by having to answer to Zeus or anyone else. "  
" Still I'm powerless. Zeus forbade me to interfere directly in the affairs with mortals. It does always have to go through someone else. So what should I do?"

Io had no real good answer to that question. Instead she turned away and found herself once again looking at that hydrogen bomb thing. And while regarding it once more, knowing what it could do, she suddenly perceived that glowing pink ball as much more lethal and scary than before. She knew now that it could become the destroyers of cities and of nations. A real menance to mankind. She contemplated that for a while, shiwers travelling down the spine. And deep in her heart she knew that atrocity had to be destroyed. She just had no idea about how.

After a little while Tereanos returned.  
" I've just talked to Amon. He wants me to get the bomb. "


	10. Gabriel

**Gabriel **

" Now what do I do?" Io asked Leto and Pandios as they sat in the large dining hall at the Delos pantheon. She and Epaphos had been returned there by a reluctant Tereanos. Io could tell that Tereanos disliked the situation with his whole being. He was still disinclined to use the hydrogen bomb against the Kanaan gods, but he had been overridden by his pantheon head.  
" We need to talk with Zeus," Pandios stated. Leto's husband was a tall and lithe man with black, curly hair and eyes dark as coal. Only he can solve this situation. Perhaps he knows a relative to those fighting gods. Perhaps he knows a way to reason with them before Amon makes it too late and drops his dreadful bomb.

" I can understand Amon too", Leto said. "I know what it's like to be under threat. Amon is fearing for his pantheon and the mortals they are supposed to protect. He has tried to find peaceful solutions to what's been going on in Kanaan without success. Perhaps he feels that hitting back with brutal force is the only answer."  
" Brutality is never the only answer," replied Pandios. "There's always another solution. A better solution."  
" Even while being cornered by Titans?" Leto replied.  
" Leto, this isn't about Titans," Io said. "This is about human gods. Modern gods. You're right, Pandios, we need to talk with Zeus. He is after all the elected king of the gods. Those Kanaanites must listen to him!"

" They won't," Leto guessed. "None of them voted for him. And they have never embraced the Pax Olympica. They have never signed the peace treaty Zeus sent out to all the pantheons and sole gods across the world. They will probably not feel that they are in any way bound by these agreements. "  
" Why didn't they sign the treaty?" Io enquired.  
" Hard to say," Pandios pondered. "After all there were about a dozen gods who more or less openly refused to accept Zeus' rule. They had various reasons, most of them claiming that they did not want any foreigners to meddle in their affairs or that they didn't trust the Olympians. A lot were - and still are - afraid of the extremely powerful god who is Zeus too, although that numbers have dwindled over the years. I can respect those concerns, but I do not respect gods who go to war and in effect kill off innocent bystanders like mortals and nature beings."

" Can't we try to figure out what this war is really about?" asked Asteria. "Why these two blokes are throwing energy bolts at each other. Are they both after Kanaan and its people? Or are the other reasons involved? And how about Amon? Is he really an innocent bystander in this fight, or has he actually been encouraging those gods?"  
" Come on, Asteria! He lost a daughter!" Io exclaimed.  
" But that could have been a misjudgment from his side. I wonder why he really build this pyramid thing."  
" Because he was fearing the arrival of war," Io turned to Leto's sister.  
" Feared or expected it?"  
" Perhaps both," Pandios said.

" I think Amon's real plan is to have one of those gods defeating the other and then lure the winner to attack Aegyptos and while he tucks away his mortals and fortunes in the pyramid he goes out to attack and defeat that god, probably with the help of other members of his pantheon. And that wile Promethean the land of Kanaan would lay open to him."  
" Asteria, I met Amon," Io told. "He was not a man of hospitality or gentleness, but I don't consider him capable of such a thing. It's not in his best interest to claim yet another large piece of more or less worthless dessert land."  
" What's with this Kanaan area by the way?" Pandios asked. "Why would everyone want that seemingly worthless chunk of land?"

" Because of the prophecy," Leto said.  
" What prophecy?" Pandios again.  
" An oracle has forsayed that the god who controls Kanaan will eventually control the world," Leto told.  
" Well then, why haven't Zeus grabbed at that land?" Asteria asked. "He seems ambitious enough to want to control the world."  
" I guess," Leto said, "that he's biding his time. Waiting for the right moment. Either that or he doesn't pay that much attention to what the oracle has said. After all there are oracles blabbing away prophecies all the time about everything and then some. Remember the flying iron chariots!"

" What's that?" Io asked.  
" Another oracle forsayed that the mortals would build birdlike chariots of iron that could fly in the skies, faster than any god, and that they would use those to transport themselves all over the world within mere hours. "  
" Preposterous, Leto!" her husband snorted.  
" Yes I know. But some oracles are held in high esteem, and if they start talking nonsense like this people might believe them. On top of that we always have the 'prophecies brought true' –syndrome. "  
" What?" Io repeated herself.  
" If you know about a prophecy you might strive to make it happen. Say that you were told that your battle would be victorious, then you would fight like a lion and therefore win. If you were told it was a lost case you might perhaps give up and in consequence lose. Let's say this prophecy make all the powerful gods meet and clash over Kanaan, leaving only the mightiest deity left alive. And as a result leaving the world to him or her."

" That's not what Zeus wants," Asteria said. "He wants peace and co-existence. "  
" Which is under threat now when Amon has that bomb thing and might use it to slay those two other gods," Leto sighed. "No, we will definitely have to talk with Zeus. Is he still in the land of the Celts?"

¤*¤*¤*¤

" What a coinsidence," Zeus was saying, "looking at the four Delos gods in the contact mirror. Yes, there happens to be a relative to one of those gods in the Celtic pantheon, which I just left."  
" And who is that?" Leto asked.  
" His name is Gabriel, he's a nephew of Yahweh. A bit young but rather bright. Now, this atomic bomb worries me a great deal, I don't want to see such a thing detonated so near highly populated areas. And it's not just about Kanaan, if Amon drops that bomb there, he might scare the Babylonians and the Sumerians into attack him, to prevent him from bomb them too. And then we'll have a full scaled divine war."

" But Amon only has one bomb," Pandios told. "And he doesn't know how to make more. "  
" Yes, but the Babylonians and the Sumerians will probably think otherwise. No, we can't have that bomb deployed."  
" Can you talk to Amon out of it?" Io asked.  
" I sure will try, I'll go to Aegyptos already tonight to reason with the god. But I will need your help Io and Leto."

" I cannot talk to Amon, I'm sorry but he didn't really respect me. "  
" I don't mean that you need to come with me to the Garden of Delight, Io. I'm asking you and Leto to go to the Celts and see Gabriel. Tell him what is going on in Kanaan and what might happen if it doesn't stop! Tell him that his uncle might get killed if the war does not stop and that Gabriel might be the only hope of a peaceful solution! Will you do that, miladies?"

Leto accepted and after a second of hesitation Io did so too.  
" We better leave first thing in the morning," Leto said. "Io need a good night's sleep before we set off for the land of the Celts. "

¤*¤*¤*¤

Once again Io found herself outside the large doors of a foreign pantheon. And this one was nothing like the Aegyptian Garden of Delight.

First of all it was the average weather. It was cold and raining, something it had never done in Aegyptos. Then while the Garden of Delight rested in a hidden bubble of reality and consisted of several palaces and lush gardens, this pantheon resided inside of a single large structure, more like a fortress than a palace. A fortress situated on a large rock, with water surrounding it on three sides and only a small isthmus leading up to the entrance. An entrance which was cut off with a wind"up bridge and a large double door, made of sturdy oak inlaid with iron bars.

It reminded Io slightly of Mycenae, where she had stopped by to rest for a night and a day on her way to Delos. Well defended and harsh, not letting anyone in who was not cleared all the way.

" So what made this Gabriel end up here?" Leto asked.  
" Love perhaps, Io said. Love can pull and push people – god as well as mortals – across half the world. Ask me!"

Leto smiled.  
" Makes sense, come on let's seek entrance. "

Io found a large knocker and used it. Its banging sound echoed almost spookily, carried by the resonance of the hollow on the other side of the doors.

First nothing happened. Then a face was shown upon one of those ornate metal circlets covering the door. The face of a pale man with curly red hair.  
" Yes? What may I do for the two of you?" The man asked briskly.  
" I'm Io, this is Leto. We are the Greeks who called ahead. We're here to see Gabriel."  
" The messenger? So people comes all the way from Greece to see him now. Very well, I shall see if he's receiving you. Wait a moment. "

Then the screen went blank and the Greeks were left out in the rain.  
" Not a good start this," Leto said and pulled her leather coat closer around her, gazing at Io from under her hood, where water was dripping and sometimes falling down in her face.  
" Be patient, sister," Io said. But she too felt weary and annoyed. She hadn't asked to parttake in saving the world, she just wanted to find her place in it. And her place was definitely not here, she was sure of it. She had always resented rain and cold weather. But Zeus had, as always, been so persuasive.

A few moment later the doors creaked open, presenting a petite lady in a light blue wollen dress, she too with the hair of a carrot. She beckoned them to come in.  
" Sorry about the delay", she was saying, sea-green eyes eying them accurately. "But we're a bit cautious with who we let inside those gates these days. Here in this part of the world there are still threats even to the pantheons of gods. I'm Brigid. And you are?"

" Io and Leto, from the Delos pantheon," Io repeated. "Here to see Gabriel."  
" Not from the Olympos?" Brigid asked. She suddenly looked suspicious.  
" No, we live outside," Leto explained. "But we co-work a lot with the Olympos. I know Zeus was here just a day ago. "  
" That's true." Brigid said. "The great lord helped us a lot. A man worthy of admiration. So what is your business with Gabriel? "

" It's about a relative of his who's in trouble. An uncle."  
" Gabriel has disowned his relatives," Brigid said. "I don't think he'll be interested in helping you."  
" Please," Leto asked. "We have travelled a long way. Can we at least get to see him?"

Brigid seemed to hesitate a moment. Then she nodded her head in an upwards direction:  
"All right. Just because all the help we got from Great Zeus. But be aware that Gabriel might be moody and he's probably not willing to help you. Come with me!"

¤*¤*¤*¤

Brigid let them in trough a vaulted entry, across a courtyard and then up several staircases, the first ones monumental and impressive and the next few winding and dark. Finally they entered a large room where a fire roared in a large fireplace and where exotic carpets and furniture dominated the interior decoration. On a large table laid what looked like an abandoned board game with several odd"shaped dices and markers. There was a familiar looking marble bust too, the lettering beneath being foreign, but Io thought she recognized the face of Oceanos. Or at least some relative to the Titan who had supported Zeus back in the war.

Across the large room was several doors and Brigid knocked on one of them. A muffled sound was heard from inside and she entered.  
" Wait a sec," she turned to the Greeks before closing the doors. Leto cursed under her voice and mindspoke Io:  
_What do they keep here, being so suspicious? All the gold of the west, or just more nuclear bombs?_

But soon Brigid opened up again.  
" He's receiving you. You might enter. "

Io and Leto came into a room where books and scrolls covered three of the walls. The fourth wall was dominated by a large desk holding even more of the same. Behind the desk and beneath a window with the thick velvet curtains drawn sat a blond god who might not even be a hundred years. There was something innocent over those blue eyes and the weak, almost feminine look.

" Gabriel," Brigid said and ushered Io and Leto forward, "these are the Greeks who called ahead. They're here to see you about a relative. "  
" A relative?" Gabriel looked at the Greeks, "I have no relatives. Besides those Celts who have kindly taken me in and who do not scorn my research. "  
" Gabriel," Io began. "We were told by Great Zeus that you are related to Yahweh of Kanaan."

Gabriel remained silent and Io went on:  
" He is at war with another god. A god named Lucifer. Their battles have scared the neighboring pantheons into wanting to annihilate both Yahweh and Lucifer to prevent them from 'exporting' the hostilities into other, neighboring areas. "

" They cannot annihilate Yahweh," Gabriel replied curtly.  
" Well' it seems that Amon of Aegyptos has laid his hand upon technology that might," Leto said. "He has purchased an atomic bomb from a god named Prometheus. I don't know how much that tells you, but apparently an atomic bomb was used at the end of the Titan war and that one sent down several gods to the lost areas down under. Meaning that they are as vanished as if they had been dead mortals. If not even more, since we gods control the mortal cycle of life/death trough Hades, and can if needed locate a mortal soul. So you must understand that the very concept of such a bomb has us worried. "

" I know all that, Gabriel cut off. Yet Yahweh is destined to rule, so I'm not the slightest worried about him. When he has eliminated Lucifer he will send for me, and then my research needs to be completed, so if you will excuse me…"  
"He will send for you?" Leto echoed. "But you said you had no relatives."  
"He's a busines partner in this case. I'll help him, he help me. After all there's only a matter of days now."  
" Days to what? Io rose an eye"brow.  
" Days to when Lucifer meets his final destiny.

" What do you mean?"  
" Yahweh will send him down under. Way down under. To that place where Chronos was sent."  
" Tartarus!" Io felt herself pale considerably and looking at Leto she saw that her friend's reaction was the same.

" Gabriel," Brigid interrupted. "If Amon has an atomic bomb the course of events might change. If he uses it there'll be no Yahweh or Lucifer left. And very little of Kanaan too."  
" That's why we are here," Io said. "We're asking you to talk to your uncle. To beg him to stop this war. To end this before it is too late. "  
" Amon can do nothing," Gabriel replied.

" Enough of this arrogance", Brigid said and stepped forward, passing the Greeks and leaning over the table where Gabriel sat, resting her freckled knuckles on the dark wood. "You have been talking about this timeline research of yours and how you can predict the future using it. Well, I'm not an oracle, but I know what an atomic bomb can cause. And I know that if one of them goes off there will be war. Thus if there's anything anyone can possibly do to stop it, it's essential that this person accept the responsibility to do so. So for the sake of the hospitality we Celts have been giving you – do respond to the Greek's plea and go talk to your uncle!"

" I repeat it is not necessary. My predictions…"  
" If your predictions are true your uncle will win," Leto said. "And if not someone will get a bomb in his head. Or the war will just go on and on. Or – whatever. Nevertheless it cannot harm if you go to Kanaan and try to reason with your uncle. "

Brigid turned to Leto:  
" You're right. Gabriel has nothing to lose. If it's not the case that he is scared of his uncle."  
" I am not!" Gabriel rose, his eyes dark with anger. "I have had enough insult from obnoxious women! My research is essential, because it will tell what will happen in the future. And it do tell that my Yahweh will win!"

Io sighed. Then she turned to Leto.  
" We're not getting anywhere. I guess we have to return to Zeus and tell him that our try at peace and mercy failed and tell him to stick to the original plan and dispose all of those gods into Tartarus. "  
" Can he do that?" Brigid sounded surprised.  
" Of course he can. He did it with Chronos, who was as powerful as Yahweh, Lucifer and Amon together. And he won't hesitate a second if Pax Olympica is threatened. "

" But my predictions show…" Gabriel started.  
" You can put those in a dark place," Io snarled. "Zeus will not care about them at least, and that's all that really matters in the end. "

Gabriel looked from Io to Brigid and then back again, and then he looked at Leto. Then he shrugged.  
" Well' it's not like this is going to matter in a couple of days, but I know when I'm fighting a lost battle. I'll go to Kanaan if it makes you happy. But then…"

He went on talking but Leto didn't listen. She mindspoke Io:  
_" That was a brave bluff. How did you know he wouldn't call for it?  
" Well sometimes you have to take your chances too, Leto. And it's kind of easy with people like Gabriel. They're predictable. Just like Prometheus. _


	11. A king has to do what a king has to do

**A king has to do what a king has to do**

Gabriel had hasted away like being persecuted by harpies, and Io and Leto had found themselves together with Brigid in the large hall outside Gabriel's room.  
" These are strange times we live in", the Celt goddess said, looking at the abandoned board game, as if it was representing the modern world, which it very well might, Io pondered.  
" Yes, they say so", Leto said and shrugged. "But that was said during the Titan wars too. I guess all times have their unique strangeness."

" But there's so many pantheons which are interacting, or trying to interact these days and it does not always turn out well," Brigid alleged. "Too many cultural clashes. Gabriel is not the only one. We took him in out of kindness, something we're regretting today. He got in trouble with the old war god Taranis, angered him with his strange prophecies and Taranis is not a god you anger if you have any kind of self preservation. His sword is out while others still are trying to understand if they have been insulted or not. So it became quite a struggle here, and other outsider gods became involved. Deities like Belona and Wotan who, if you ask me, are more barbarian than civilized. And in the end we had to send for Zeus to regain peace and order around."

" Will Gabriel stay welcome with you?" Io asked.  
" I don't know," the celtic goddess said. "I have to discuss it with the rest of my pantheon. "  
" Please let him, Brigid," Io pleaded. "I know how it is to have nowhere to go. Save for the Taranis event he hasn't really been in any problems, right?"

Brigid nodded.  
" You're a kind woman, Io of Delos. I will keep your words in mind when I'm considering this. If his uncle doesn't take him in he'll have nowhere to go as you say. And Wotan wants his sorry ass so bad he would probably travel all the way to Kanaan to whip it."

¤*¤*¤*¤

" What do we do now?"Leto asked upon their return to Delos.  
" I guess we wait," said Io. "We'll have to inform Zeus of what we learned of course, but other than that I don't think there's much to do. "  
" Damn that Prometheus," Leto said. "He's a trouble maker as horrific as any war god. No, worse, since he's hiding behind sweet words about 'wanting to help'. While most war gods are very honest about what they do, so you know at least where you have them. You know what kind of games they are playing, you know that they tend to stir up trouble wherever they go. But with gods like Prometheus..."  
" Leto, Prometheus does want to help, I know that."  
" Pah, he hasn't done a great job of it so far. I mean a hydrogen bomb, what kind of help is that? If Amon drops it…"  
" Let's hope he don't. And that Zeus seizes the bomb and destroys it."

¤*¤*¤*¤

Nothing happened for a couple of days. Then Zeus arrived at the Delos pantheon looking tired and angered. With an exhausted look he sat down in one of the plushy divans in the main hall and accepted the Nectar one of the attending nymphs was offering him. He took a large drink from the goblet before he said:  
" Tell me I'm wrong when I fear the fighting is not going to end down in the eastern parts of the Mediterranean within reasonable time. First there was Baal versus Seth and now it appears that Yahweh have managed to send his adversary Lucifer all the way down to Tartarus. I don't know where he found that knowledge, since it's highly restricted, but Lucifer is gone and according to some minor gods I met on the location he's been hurled down under the very same way I got rid of Chronos. And it was Yahweh who did it."  
" Then Gabriel's prophecy was correct," Io said.

" He told that Yahweh would win?" Zeus asked. Io nodded and Zeus went on: "He said that to me too. And I wouldn't have been that impressed if it wasn't the fact that the lad completely lacks oracle powers. "  
" How does he make his predictions then?" Leto asked. "Or is he just guessing? He mentioned some research but did not really explain what he meant. "  
" He's talking about a way of calculating the future using mathematics," said Zeus. "Quite original but I don't think it's very effective. He was right this time, that's true, but it might as well be a strike of luck."  
" What about Amon's bomb?" Io asked.

" And what about Yahweh, will he attack other gods?" Leto feared.  
" Amon has given me the bomb and I've destroyed it," Zeus told. "Afterwards I went talking to Yahweh, and that was harder than all the rest put together. To cut a long story short, the man is a bit of a recluse and wants to be left alone, minding his own business and his tribe of mortals. He told me he terminated Lucifer because he was threatening those mortals Yahweh's woven to protect. Apparently the two of them used to be on good terms earlier but then something went really wrong between them. I didn't really learn what, but the main thing is that Yahweh promised me that he would never attack another pantheon, if it wasn't a pure act of self"defense. So I hope it can stay status quo down there, even if the relation between him and the Aegyptians is cold as a glacier. I also warned Yahweh against keeping a too tight lash on his mortal, because then they would eventually clash with their neighbors over theological issues. I'm not sure I reached him with that one but I tried at least.

Now I'm on my way to Prometheus to make sure he stops building and dealing with those bombs. He's almost as hard to handle as the Kanaanite. I hate to restrict a brilliant mind like his, but it's for his own good, as well as for those around. Then I have to go talk to the Sumerians too, because they have been worried by the ongoing hostilities and threatening to attack the Kanaanite god. "  
" Your work never stops, does it?" Pandios said. Zeus sighed and smiled.  
" I guess not. There's always something going on, some gods or mortals crying out for help. Or someone who don't but mess up as well. But then a king has to do what a king has to do."

" Zeus, I want to ask you one thing," said Acorind who was coming down the staircase.  
" What?" Was there a slight sigh in the deep voice?  
" About the prophecy regarding Kanaan," Leto's brother in law began. "The oracle who uttered it claimed that the god who controls Kanaan will control the world. Do you think that might have anything to do with the hostilities down there? That what all of those gods really want is to get a hand on Kanaan? "  
" There's one more prophecy regarding Kanaan, said Zeus. The other one tells that Kanaan will never know lasting peace."  
" Really?" Io said.

" Yes, and wherever those two prophecies are connected or not, it has made me convinced that I should keep a close eye on that region in the future. Because there are a lot of gods and goddesses down there who are not exactly good friends," Zeus went on. He drunk more of his nectar then he made a smooth change into next subject:  
" Talking about good friends, Io, you really ought to go see Hera."

Io felt cold shivers traverse down her neck.  
" I'm… Hera and I are really not on speaking terms anymore."  
" And you know very well why," Leto cut Io off with a snapping remark, glaring at Zeus.  
" Leto," Zeus said. "I made a bit of a mistake that night almost eight years ago. I have apologized to Hera and she has accepted the apology, but I told her she ought to make it up with Io too. After all I can tell that Io is not in any way interested in destroying anything for Hera. And weren't even on that night when… well. But Hera is reluctant and does not really know how to approach Io after telling her off so harsh back when they met last time. "

" I don't really know what to say to her. She wouldn't accept my apologies back then and I don't think I know how to express myself even after all this time. "  
" Perhaps you can write her a few lines," Zeus suggested. "I can bring them to her. Or if you don't want me to, send them by the dowe. "  
" That might be an idea," Io pondered.  
" Then dearest, I'd also like to see my son."

" Oh, that can be arranged," Io said. "Epaphos is down by the beach, Asteria is teaching the children about marine life forms. I'm sure he will be delighted, come on! "

¤*¤*¤*¤

It took Io hours to complete the letter to Hera. She had no idea how many sketches she rejected, how many papers she tore apart before finally settling for a short message to Hera telling that she had no good explanation of what happened that night .She had simply had her basic feelings taking overhand. Now she was sad that it had cost her a dear friendship. At the same time she had been honest with Hera, she had told she held no regrets over sleeping with Zeus and getting her wonderful son. On the other hand touching another woman's man was nothing she would ever do again and she wished Zeus would learn the lesson too.

Finally Io put her name on the piece of papyrus, rolled it and sent for a dowe to carry her message to Olympos. Then she stood by her window watching the bird disappear into the darkening blue sky with her message. She lingered until she could not make it out anymore, not even using divine sight. Then she went back inside and watched her son play with Leto's children for a while. They were down in the courtyard garden, constructing a strange vehicle out of driftwood and metal scraps, no doubt inspired by Leto's story about the iron birds.

It was very quiet at Delos that evening. When Zeus had left he had taken Apollo and Artemis with him, they were going to travel with him and then stay at Olympos for a while, and Io found herself with a strange yearn for returning to Olympos – at least for a while. She really wanted to talk to Hera, wanted to make up. For the first time in ages she thought of the queen of the gods without sadness and worry in her heart, but with hope. A hope that they trough trust and honesty could find the way back to each other again.

_Trust me_, she had written in that letter._ I have changed, and upon meeting Zeus again I saw that he had changed too. He has matured and I really hope that you and he can share the love the two of you deserve. _

She so hoped that Hera had changed too. That she had moved beyond anger and jealousy and was willing to forgive. Because Io hoped – if not to get her friend back – so at least receive her forgiveness.

¤*¤*¤*¤

Hera's reply arrived four days later. Two simple sentences, but still saying it all.

_Can we talk?  
__Can I come visiting you?_

Io's heart skipped a beat at those few words. Would it be possible? She listened to the laughter and splashes outside the window. Her dear son Epaphos and Leto's Inandon and Larella and Asteria's Caryad were playing in the pool, enjoying themselves unbothered by the midday heat and Io mused at the innocent joy of childhood. When did people forget to have this fun without obligations and wile intrigues? Perhaps when they reached their teens. She had after all noted the changes in Apollo and Artemis when they passed into the magic age. Artie first, a bit more mature since she was a girl, but her brother was not far after.

Then she thought of Zeus. How very happy he had been upon seeing Epaphos. He had so many children now that man, but he never seemed to tire of the thought of new life emerging trough his spirit. Epaphos had been delighted to finally meet his illustrious father, and Zeus and he had played a bit and talked a bit, walking the beach where the tide was slowly going out, leaving empty sea"shells and driftwood behind.


	12. Forgive and forget

**Forgive and forget**

" Hera!"  
" Io!"

Their first reencounter was polite and reserved, almost a bit strained. Like none of them really dared to take the first step towards reconciliation. Io regarded Hera, she was looking more regal than ever before with her dark hair in a complicated hairdo adorned with pearls and silver ribbons, and a dress which looked like it was tailored just for her. It was made from a textile that looked purple in certain lights and blue in others, and added with silver sequins and lapis around the linings. The dress was knee length and tight and showed off Hera's generous cleavage. A very flattering dress of the kind Io was certain she would never dare to wear.

Hera didn't come alone of course, she had and escort of nymphs following her and she brought her young son Ares. Perhaps, Io thought, to have someone to hide behind when conversation died. A reason for distraction. When Hera presented the boy Io kneeled and said hello to him.  
" Hi," said the boy, regarding her with curious brown eyes, much like his mothers. He had curly dark-blond hair of the kind which would turn brown when he became older, and a slightly sullen look.

" I hope it's OK I brought him," Hera said. "He was in need of a change in environment after all."  
" Certainly! All children like that. And he'll have playmates here." Io was on the brink of saying 'a brother' but she bit off those words at the last moment. Better not remind Hera. Instead he asked the boy of his age.  
" Seven," Ares replied and started looking out of the window, showing that this was the end of the conversation topic. Io turned to Hera.  
" He's tall for his age."  
" Yes," Hera nodded, "like his father."

" Ares," she turned to her son, If you like you can go down to the other children in the courtyard and play.  
" Kay…" the boy said and was off in a whift.

How they trotted like the proverbial cats around the hot dish. Tensely avoiding the strained subject. Io invited Hera up to the terrace, offered nectar and small food and inquired about mutual acquaintances and Hera in turn wanted to know what it was like living here and teaching children.  
" It's fun, always something going on with those little ones. They are so full of ideas and dreams and hopes. Tell me when do the children's sparkling imagination and fantasy die?"  
" I don't know," Hera said. "Hopefully never. "

Then Hera decided it was time to stop stalling. She looked at Io and said:  
" Let's settle this once and for all, Io. I don't know what's on your mind, but I want to make sure you know that I'm not angered with you anymore. It wasn't just your fault, and I overreacted. I guess I would have been less angered if you had told me from the start what had happened. But I can as well understand that such a thing is far from easy to tell. I wouldn't know how to break it. And I guess if you hadn't become pregnant no one would've known. "

Hera sighed and went on:  
" Zeus has been… He has hard to be – faithful to the promises of marriage. You were not the only one he trapped, there were others later whom I found out about. And it drove me crazy. I could've left him then but I have taken upon me so many responsibilities as a Queen of the Gods. Things I want to do with my position, projects I'm involved with. These are things you don't just give up and let go of. The promises I give to help somebody, to make things happen, those I cannot just walk out of because my husband cheats on me. Faith knows that it's far from easy all the time but I have learned to cope. And no, it's not that I'm accepting what Zeus is up to, far from it. I'm at him for it, but when he comes and beg for forgiveness, I have so hard to be really mad at him. Then there's Ares. "

" Yes, I can understand that you don't want to break up his family."  
" Sure, he's a bit of an unruly child. Short in temper and hyperactive, but with a sensitive and emotional mind that people unfortunately don't see. I hope when he get older, he'll calm down and learn compassion and empathy. But then it's up to me and Zeus too to give him that guidance. And we can't do that if we should break up. "

Hera sipped on her cup and admired the view a bit, staring out over the ocean, just like Io had done the first time she came her for what felt like eons ago.  
" How about you, Io?" she asked then. "Are you willing to leave this sad event between us behind? You have a son with Zeus there's no way to deny that. And I hope Zeus will take some kind of responsibility for the boy. This leaves 'us'."  
" How about 'us'?"  
" I'm not going to deny that it hurt for a long time, but I can get over it – if you can!"  
" Hera! We can't let a man come between us. There have been so many years, and I guess that's because we both are proud and stubborn women. "  
" Zeus talked with me, and I know he has been talking with you too. He did what he could to make right wrong. Then it's up to us. "

" I'm ready to revive 'us', Hera. "  
" So am I!"

They both rose and hugged on the terrace. For a long time they stayed like that. Then Hera said:  
" Now I want to hear about your adventures. About those crazy Eastern gods and the latest lunatic invention of that dickhead Prometheus. And what became of that Aegyptian you met. "  
" The last thing is easy to answer: Nothing."  
" Oh, I'm sorry."  
" Well it wasn't meant to be anyway I guess. Tereanos was tender and compassionate but not ready to defend our relationship when his pantheon head showed that he was less than pleased with it."  
" That's sad, Io."  
" Oh, Hera, there are more gods out there. Then the rest is quite a story. "  
" Tell!" Hera urged. "From the beginning! "

Leto begun her story but fifteen minutes in it Hera changed attention the way only a mother can.  
" Ares! What is he up to now?"

Then Io heard it too, angered children's' voices echoing from the courtyard. Caryad and Hera's son.  
" He's fighting again! I don't know why he can't leave other children alone." Hera rose and started down the stairs and Io was soon after. They turned the corner, passed through the arched portal and entered the courtyard where the children had been playing peacefully until just a moment ago. Now Ares was sitting on top of the older boy who was trying to get his hands free from Ares' iron grip.  
" Ares! Get of Caryad!" Hera raged and the next second she was lifting the boy in the air and away from Asteria's son. At the same time Asteria came hasting from the other direction and Epaphos came running up to Io and grabbed her legs.  
" Now what exactly is going in here?" Leto's sister wanted to know.

In reply all the children started to talk at the time, but it was Larella who made her voice heard:  
" Cary pushed Eppie, he wanted Eppie down from the marble horse. And then Ares attacked Cary and wrestled him down to the ground."  
" I was riding the horse first," Epaphos pointed out.  
" But it was my turn," Caryad returned. Ares wrinkled his brow:  
" I don't want anyone bullying brothers of mine no matter what clever or stupid reason they give."  
" But you can't fight everybody for that sake," Hera told her son while Asteria was enquiring Caryad if it was true that he had pushed Epaphos off the horse.

Meanwhile Io bent down and lifted up her son:  
" Can't you let Caryad ride a little while? " Epaphos didn't reply, he only looked at Caryad with dark eyes. The other boy was climbing the marble horse now when there was no other child in the way. Then Ares turned to Epaphos:  
" Screw that marble thingie, I have a real horse back home. "  
" Really!" Epaphos said with awe in his voice.  
" Yeah. Why don't you come with me and check him out? You can ride him too, you know. But I must warm you, he can be a bit wild. "  
" I've never sat on a real horse before," Epaphos said. "Mother can I go please?!"

Io looked at Hera who returned her gaze. Hera shrugged and smiled:  
" It's fine by me, he can follow us back home. "  
" You sure?" Io whispered.  
" Perfectly. I guess we all can benefit from learning from the directness of childhood."  
" Then you're off to Olympos come tomorrow, dear," Io told her son.

At those words both Epaphos and Ares started to cheer and then the latter started talking fast about all the things he wanted to show his brother at Olympos. Io and Hera continued to pass glances:  
" Thank you my friend," Io said, suddenly feeling so light at heart.  
" You're welcome. And Eppie too. Then he need to sample a piece of his father's benefits too. It's only fair to let him have that. "

Once again the friends hugged while the children had started a new game, the formerly so important marble horse completely forgotten as well as the animosity between Ares and Caryad.

¤*¤*¤*¤

Hera stopped her narrating and turned to Astraea and Rhode asking:  
" Now did that story teach you anything?"  
" Yeah," Astraea said and looked first at Hera then at Rhode and then back at Hera again:  
" What?" Hera smiled.  
" That Ares was a fight-picker already as a kid," Rhode smirked.


End file.
